Global Environment Facility approved USD 27 million for five new projects in Latin America and the Caribbean

December 14, 2020 - The Global Environment Facility (GEF) approved USD 27 million today for projects to restore landscapes and ecosystems and to conserve biodiversity in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The governments of these countries will provide USD 184 million in co-financing and will implement them with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The potential beneficiaries of the five projects could exceed 439 thousand people, most of them small and medium producers, many linked to indigenous populations; 219 thousand are women.
"These projects will contribute to advancing agri-food systems that are more friendly to ecosystems, improving the livelihoods of thousands of people, with a perspective of gender equality and the participation of indigenous communities. They also incorporate an approach to build back better after the pandemic, with an emphasis on means of production, more sustainable and resilient markets, poverty reduction, and food and nutrition insecurity. They are one more step to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 agenda,", said Ignacia Holmes, FAO Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture Officer.
FAO has supported the governments of 29 countries in the region to design and implement 58 projects that have mobilized more than USD $ 224 million from the Global Environment Facility.
Brazil: conserving the biodiversity and wetlands of the Amazon
The main objective of the project financed by the GEF in Brazil is to strengthen the process of participatory management of natural resources, conserve biodiversity, and encourage the maintenance of carbon stocks in humid areas of the Amazon.
With an investment of US $ 3.4 million from the GEF, and US $ 18.6 of national financing, the project will be implemented in three states: Pará, Amapá and Amazonas.
They project will have an impact on close to 6 thousand people, and work on more than 18 million hectares of land.
The project will be coordinated by the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development, and with the support of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations and the FAO.
Sustainable agricultural, forestry and livestock management in Chile
Restoring environmentally vulnerable landscapes to favor the recovery of the productivity of forestry and livestock systems and their natural environments through programmed sustainable management, is the central purpose of the new project in Chile, which will benefit 10,000 people.
With USD 5.6 million from the GEF, and USD $ 32 million of co-financing by Chile, it will be implemented by the Chilean Ministry of the Environment, the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) and FAO, in five regions: Coquimbo, Valparaíso, Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, Maule and Biobío.
Green and inclusive recovery post COVID-19 in Mexico
The Mexico project received USD 10 million from the GEF, with national co-financing of USD $ 66 million. It will be implemented in Durango, Montes Azules and Huasteca, and could impact close to 371 thousand people, half of them women.
The proyect will seek to incorporate biodiversity conservation, integrated landscape management, and ecosystem connectivity into social programs in Mexico, such as Sowing Life.
The project also seeks to build better after the COVID-19 pandemic and will be implemented by the National Forestry Commission of Mexico, the Ministry of Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Institute of Social Economy and FAO.
Nicaragua: caring for the Indio Maíz reserve with indigenous peoples
Conserving biodiversity of global importance and improving ecosystem services in the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, together with indigenous peoples and local communities, is the objective of the Nicaraguan project, which will be able to benefit nearly 5,000 people in the Río San Juan department
Through an integrated, holistic and multisectoral approach, the initiative will be implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Nicaragua and FAO, with a contribution of USD 2.9 million from the GEF and a co-financing of USD 20,8 million from Nicaragua.
Sustainable forests in the Andean region of Venezuela
The Venezuelan project will be implemented with producers from 12 municipalities of the coffee and cocoa axis in the Andean region of Venezuela, to promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, stop and reverse land degradation and deforestation, and manage the forests sustainably.
The GEF approved USD 5.3 million for the proyect, and Venezuela will invest USD 45.6 in co-financing. Close to 47 thousand people could benefit, half of these would be women. The project will be implemented by FAO, and executed by the Ministry of Popular Power for Ecosocialism.