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	Related Resources: USAID Climate Change Activities in Brazil Tropical Forest and Biodiversity FAA 118/119 (PDF, 316K) USAID Brazil Profile Congressional Budget Justification 2006 USAID Partners: International Institute of Education of Brazil (IIEB) World Wide Fund for Nature – (WWF-Brazil) Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM) Amazon Conservation Team-Brazil (ACT) Conservation International-Brazil (CI) The Nature Conservancy’s Parks In Peril USDA Forest Service Brazil Government: Official Government Website of Brazil News: Amazon Rainforest Clashes Highlight New Urgency of USAID Biodiversity Programs Success Stories: Hydropower Energizes Remote Village Citizens in Brazil Make Decisions About Energy
	Biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean Tropical Forest and Biodiversity FAA 118/119 Country Analyses Tropical Forest Conservation Act and Enterprise for the Americas Initiative USAID Resource Management Portal USAID Natural Resources Information Clearinghouse Additional Environment Resources
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Brazil

Environment Summary

Brazil is one of the most biologically diverse places in the world, with more species of primates, amphibians, freshwater fish and flowering plants than any other country.

USAID’s environment program in Brazil seeks to increase benefits to the rural poor, shape the environmental impact of future land-use trends, and mitigate the global impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. USAID also promotes the incorporation of landscape-level planning into government planning and policies. To achieve these goals, USAID supports innovative partnerships with experienced implementing partners organized in three consortium structures. Each consortium is composed predominantly by local organizations, but includes international organizations as well. Consortium activities also engage civil society in decision-making for large-scale development projects.

USAID’s environment activities in Brazil are summarized below in the following areas:

• Biodiversity & Conservation
• Forestry
• Energy
• Clean Production
• Climate Change

Biodiversity & Conservation

USAID's biodiversity programs in Brazil focus on preserving life in three regions, the Amazon Basin, the Atlantic Forest, and the Cerrado. Much of Brazil's biodiversity is located in the Brazilian Amazon, which is equivalent in area to the western United States. In addition to the importance of the Amazon, Brazil's Atlantic forest and Cerrado region have been identified as two global 'hot spots,' which together house 60 percent of the world's species. While the forests of the Brazilian Amazon are still 85 percent intact, only 7 percent of Brazil's Atlantic forest remains, making it one of the most threatened ecoregions in the world. In the savannas and dry forests of the Cerrado region, agricultural expansion and development of major waterways are rapidly changing the landscape.

Local communities participate in land use decision making in the Xingú River basin.

Amazon Basin
Improving the ability of indigenous groups to protect the biodiversity on traditional lands in the Amazon Basin is a top priority for USAID's program in Brazil. These groups depend on the land for their economic prosperity. The Xingu River basin and the contiguous Kayapo territories make up an area of almost 15 million hectares, the largest single tract of tropical forest under protection in the world.

Although the region is officially protected, many problems still exist in and around the protected areas.  These include illegal mahogany extraction in the Kayapo territories, pollution from agricultural runoff, and large-scale dry-season fires.  USAID works with indigenous residents and several non-governmental organizations, Amazon Conservation Team, Conservation International, and Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), to alleviate these threats to biodiversity.

Atlantic Forest
The Atlantic Forest region in Brazil accounts for 80 percent of Brazil's Gross Domestic Product and is home to 70 percent of the country's population. It is also one of the richest ecosystems in the world. One hectare of Brazil's Atlantic Forest harbors more tree species than are found on the entire United States Eastern Seaboard. Parks in Peril, one of USAID's flagship conservation programs, has been active in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Implemented by The Nature Conservancy, the program attempts to conserve biodiversity, improve protected area management and mitigate the effects of climate change. Learn more about the Parks in Peril's conservation activities in the Atlantic region at http://www.parksinperil.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil.

Cerrado
In the biologically diverse tropical savanna of the Cerrado, approximately 4,400 of the estimated 10,000 plant species occur nowhere else in the world. USAID, in partnership with Conservation International, has been establishing a biological corridor in the Cerrado and the adjacent Pantanal region. Activities have included encouraging farmers to set aside portions of their holdings for conservation, working with state agencies to expand public protected areas, and providing park management training so that the corridor can be managed by local stakeholders.

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Forestry

Planning for family forest management in Brazil.

Conventional timber harvesting in Brazil is a dead end proposition, usually resulting in joblessness and damaged forests that are left fallow to become unproductive pastures. USAID has worked to reverse this pattern, intervening to sustain natural resources on which the rural poor depend, and in the end improve their economic opportunities.

To reduce the pace of deforestation in Brazil and to provide long term economic opportunities, USAID seeks to significantly increase the area of land under improved forest management. To achieve this result, USAID aims to improve the social behavior of forest dwellers and forest entrepreneurs, increase the economic valuation of the forest, and support improved public policies pertaining to forest areas. To this end, USAID provides technical assistance and training to industries and communities to encourage the adoption of sound forest management practices. USAID expects to continue to increase the land area under sustainable management as well as the number of skilled people employed in sustainable forest management in rural communities.

USAID works to increase the family income of forest-dependent people through environmentally sound income-generating projects. USAID supports the development of markets for forest products (both timber and non-timber) by developing business skills in rural communities, conducting market analysis, and increasing community access to capital.

USAID is also working to reduce the number of fires in key areas in Brazil. USAID supports consortium activities to conduct cutting-edge research on the resilience and flammability of Amazonian ecosystems as a basis for developing models to guide fire monitoring and predict the consequences of future land-use scenarios. A long-standing USAID partnership with USDA/Forest Service has also advanced fire management and forest harvest management in Brazil, in close collaboration with Brazil's Ministry of Environment and federal environment agency, Ibama. To learn more about USDA/forest Service activities in Brazil, go to www.fs.fed.us/global/globe/l_amer/brazil.htm.

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Energy

Local students stand in front of a solar powered school in Ouro Branco.

On the energy front, an estimated 12 million Brazilians currently lack access to electrical power. Brazil is also a significant producer of greenhouse gas emissions. USAID's energy programs address the lack of access to energy services and climate change by promoting the use of renewable energy and advancing clean energy services. The use of renewable energy technologies, such as biomass fuels, solar, wind, and small-scale hydropower plants, has the potential to generate jobs, create business opportunities, and improve the quality of life for the people of Brazil.

USAID supports public policy initiatives in the energy sector, education and training, and technology development so that renewable energy projects can be feasibly pursued by the private sector.

USAID works to engage the private sector in developing public policies that will promote renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Through the Brazilian Renewable Energy Nongovernmental Organization Network (RENOVE), created in 2002 as an outcome of the USAID/Brazil Energy Program, USAID supported the development of a bill to create a credit line for micro hydropower projects in the Amazon. This project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 30 million tons per year. To learn more about RENOVE, view the USAID RENOVE fact sheet.

USAID also provides courses and seminars to local energy-related institutions, including state and national energy regulatory bodies, the private sector, financial institutions, and project developers. A special training program in partnership with Institute for Sustainable Development and Renewable Energy (IDER) on renewable energy and electricity technologies is being offered to disadvantaged youth, providing opportunities for an increased income for the participants.

USAID is working with local partners in Brazil to demonstrate that renewable energy offers a viable means of providing power to communities, while increasing economic opportunities and the qualify of life. In 2004, USAID partnered with US-based renewable energy equipment suppliers, local governments, and civil society organizations to launch 15 income generation demonstration projects in Brazil, benefiting over 6,000 people.

In the state of Ceara, USAID partnered with the local government and local telecommunications service provider to develop solar-powered internet connected community schools, benefiting 75 schools. Also in 2004, USAID supported the implementation of models for delivering renewable energy in rural areas that resulted in 10,000 households directly benefiting from these projects. USAID is currently working to showcase these success stories so that they can be used as models for future projects.

Additional information on USAID's climate change activities in Brazil can be found here.

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Clean Production

USAID forged a partnership with the World Environment Center and PA Consulting Group to initiate the Supply Chain Management Partnership. The partnership aims to encourage multinational corporations to promote clean production principles among their suppliers, thus creating incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises in Brazil that are suppliers to these corporations to adopt clean production practices. Additional information on the Supply Chain Management Partnership can be found here.

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Climate Change

USAID has an extensive energy/environmental program in Brazil that encompasses many imperative and current issues. Support to the Government of Brazil, as well as other interested parties, has helped Brazil address climate change through various energy and land use activities. In addition to capacity-building measures in Brazil, USAID has facilitated beneficial partnerships that help in achieving the goal of sustainable development in this extremely biodiverse country.

For more information see USAID's Brazil Climate Change Country Program web page and Brazil Global Climate Change Country Profile

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