Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) Program Descriptions
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| A green forest canopy in Panama. |
Bangladesh
The Arannyak Foundation (the Bangladesh Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation) was officially registered in July 2003. The Foundation will receive approximately $8.5 million over 18 years. In addition, the agreement will save the government of Bangladesh over $10 million.
Bangladesh’s tropical forests cover almost 1.5 million hectares, roughly half of which are in the southwestern Sunderbans region. This area is home to the world’s sole genetically viable population of Bengal tigers, a total of only 400. As the largest mangrove forests in the world, the Sunderbans are also designated wetlands of internationally recognized importance by the Ramsar Convention.
Botswana
In October 2006, the governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Botswana signed the first TFCA agreement concluded in Africa. The agreement will reduce Botswana’s debt payments to the United States by over $8.3 million. These funds will be used to support grants that will conserve and restore important tropical forests throughout the country, including such world famous areas as the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park region. The agreement was made possible through a contribution of nearly $7 million by the U.S. government.
The forests covered by the agreements with Botswana include closed canopy tree cover, riverine forests and dry acacia forests. They are home to the fishing owl, leopard, elephant, hippopotamus and many other wildlife species. People living in and around these forests depend upon them for their livelihood and survival, and these agreements will help ensure the sustainability of the forests for future generations.
Belize
In August 2001, the governments of the U.S. and Belize, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, announced a TFCA debt swap. The $5.5 million in appropriated funds were combined with $1.3 million in private funds raised by The Nature Conservancy to reduce Belize’s official debt to the U.S. by half. Under the agreement, the government of Belize issued new obligations that will generate approximately $9 million in local currency payments to help a consortium of four local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) administer conservation activities in protected areas.
Partner websites:
Belize Audubon: www.belizeaudubon.org
Programme for Belize: www.pfbelize.org/welcome.html
Toledo Institute for Development and the Environment: www.tidebelize.org
PACT Foundation: www.pactbelize.org
Colombia
In April 2004, the governments of the U.S. and Colombia, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund, announced a TFCA debt swap. To carry out this swap, the U.S. government provided $7 million, the three aforementioned NGOs collectively contributed $1.4 million. The agreement should generate approximately $10 million over 12 years for tropical forest conservation.
The proceeds derived from the proposed debt-for-nature swap for Colombia will contribute to the long-term financial sustainability of Colombia’s system of protected areas by using such proceeds in the protected areas and their buffer zones, which will increase connectivity and ecological integrity of tropical forests in Colombia. This will be achieved by providing direct funding for conservation activities and an endowment fund to nine protected areas, both public and private, their buffer zones, and corridors, all of which are located in three biogeographic regions of Colombia: the Tropical Andes, the Caribbean, and the Llanos and cover 11.4 million acres of critical forest lands that overlap with part or all of 12 ecoregions in Colombia.
FPPA Website: www.accionambiental.org
Costa Rica
In September 2007, the U.S. government, Costa Rican government, Central Bank of Costa Rica, Conservation International (CI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) agreed to reduce Costa Rica’s debt payments to the U.S. by $26 million over the next 16 years. In return, the Central Bank of Costa Rica committed to pay these funds into a debt-for-nature program to support grants to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups to protect and restore the country’s important tropical forest resources.
This debt-for-nature program was made possible through contributions of over $12.6 million by the U.S. government under the TFCA and a combined donation of over $2.5 million from CI and TNC. The areas selected for protection under this program represent the top conservation targets in Costa Rica, as identified by a new scientific blueprint that addresses gaps in conservation planning.
- The Osa Peninsula, where the rainforest meets the sea, is home to the jaguar, squirrel monkey, scarlet macaw and over 370 bird species; it faces severe threats of illegal logging, poaching, and over-development
- Totuguero, a vulnerable ecosystem near the Caribbean Sea, consists of rich expanses of forests and provides a safe refuge for jaguars, green macaws and several species of turtle
- La Amistad contains Costa Rica’s largest untouched tract of rainforest and is home to most of the country’s indigenous communities, which work with CI and TNC to pursue sustainable livelihoods
- Maquenque in northern Costa Rica is rich in wetlands, lagoons, forests and hills and is home to the great green macaw and ocelots
- Zona Norte del Rincon de la Vieja, north of the Rincón de la Vieja volcano, contains some of the largest forest cover in Central America
- Nicoya Peninsula is a tourist destination in northwest Costa Rica with rich biological corridors that connect protected areas
El Salvador
The TFCA debt reduction agreement was signed in July 2001 as an additional debt relief mechanism that added an account to the existing El Salvador Enterprise for the Americas Initiative Fund (FIAES). The TFCA account should generate over $14 million dollars over 26 years. To date, the account has been used exclusively for providing grants for protected area management, primarily through community-based organizations. Activities range from land surveys and baseline inventories to ranger training and the development of management plans.
FIAES Website: www.fiaes.com.sv
Guatemala
In September of 2006, the governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Guatemala, together with The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, concluded the largest agreement the U.S. government has entered to date with any country in the eight-year history of the TFCA. The deal will reduce Guatemala’s official debt to the United States and generate $24 million to conserve tropical forests in Guatemala. The government of Guatemala has committed these funds over the next 15 years to support grants to non-governmental organizations and other groups to protect and restore the country's important tropical forest resources. The agreements were made possible through contributions of over $15 million by the U.S. government under the TFCA program and $2 million total from Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy.
Tropical forest conservation programs will work primarily in four geographic areas whose combined area constitutes approximately 40 percent of the entire territory of the Republic of Guatemala: the Motagua-Polochic-Caribbean Coast, the Western Volcanic Chain, the Cuchumatanes region and the May Biosphere Reserve. The latter is largest continuum of protected areas in Guatemala and Mexico with over two million biologically important hectares in Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and 19 ecosystems that are vital habitats for species including the jaguar, tapir, scarlet macaw, harpy eagle and many migratory bird species.
Indonesia
The U. S. government and Indonesian government signed a TFCA debt-for-nature swap agreement on June 30, 2009, which will reduce Indonesia’s debt payments to the U.S. by nearly $30 million over eight years. In return, the government of Indonesia will commit these funds to support grants to protect and restore the tropical forests on the island of Sumatra - home to many rare or endangered mammal, bird and plant species, including the Sumatran tiger, elephant, rhino, and orangutan. The grants are designed to improve natural resource management and conservation effort, and develop sustainable livelihoods for local people and communities who rely on forests.
The agreement was made possible through contributions of $20 million by the U.S. government and a combined donation of $2 million from Conservation International and the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Yayasan Keanekaragaman Hayati Indonesia, or KEHATI). This deal represents the largest debt-for-nature agreement the U.S. has organized so far under the TFCA and its first agreement with Indonesia, which has one of the world’s fastest deforestation rates.
Jamaica
In September 2004, the governments of the United States and Jamaica and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) concluded a debt-for-nature swap which will generate $16 million over 20 years for tropical forest conservation. There are seven priority sites for the funds throughout the island, from the Blue and John Crow mountains National Park in the East to the Negril Protected Area in the West. The swap was made possible by a contribution of $6.5 million from the U.S. government and $1.3 million from TNC.
Website: Environmental Foundation of Jamaica
Panama
In July 2003, the governments of the United States and Panama, together with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), signed a first set of debt-for-nature swap agreements under the TFCA, which will generate $10 million to improve management of the Upper Chagres Riger Basin in the Panama Canal Watershed. The watershed provides 50% of the water needed to operate the Panama Canal and 80% of the water needed for human consumption in the region. The swap was made possible by a contribution of $5.6 million from the U.S. government and $1.2 million from TNC.
In August 2004, the governments of the United States and Panama and TNC concluded a second debt-for-nature swap, which will generate $11 million over 12 years to help conserve 1.4 million acres (579,000 hectares) of the exceptionally rich forests of the Darien National Park bordering Colombia. The park forms a unique land bridge between North and South America and is home to such rare species as jaguar, harpy eagle, wild dog and tapir. The swap was made possible by a contribution of $6.5 million from the U.S. government and $1.3 million from TNC.
Fundación Natura Website: www.naturapanama.org
Paraguay
The United States of America and the Republic of Paraguay concluded agreements, in June 2006, to reduce Paraguay’s debt payments to the United States by nearly $7.4 million. In return, Paraguay has committed these funds over the next 12 years to support grants to conserve and protect high value tropical forests in the southern corridor of the Atlantic Forest of Alto Parana. This work includes consolidating and enhancing protected areas within the San Rafael National Park Reserve, which contains the richest diversity of native plants and animals in Paraguay. The program will also support grants to protect the Caazapa National Park, Ybyturuzu Managed Resources Reserve, Tapyta Private Nature Reserve, Ybycui National Park, and Ypeti Private Nature Reserve. This debt-for-nature agreement was made possible through a contribution of nearly $4.8 million by the United States under the TFCA program.
Peru
Peru is party to two debt-for-nature agreements with the U.S. Under the first agreement, signed in June 2002, TNC, CI and the World Wildlife Fund together committed a total of over $1 million. The U.S. government allocated $5.5 million to cancel a portion of Peru’s debt to the U.S. As a result, Peru will save about $14 million in debt payments over the next 16 years and will provide the local currency equivalent of approximately $10.6 million toward conservation over the next 12 years. The government of Peru will fund tropical forest conservation activities through local NGOs. For every $1 of U.S. funds, almost $2 will be spent on conservation activities in Peru.
The agreement gives priority to ten forested areas within the Peruvian National System of Protected Areas that cover more than 27.5 million acres of the Peruvian Amazon: Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, Apurimac Reserved Zone, Manu Reserved Zone, Manu National Park, Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary, Bahuaja Sonene National Park, Tambopata-Candamo Reserved Zone, Amarakaeri Reserved Zone, Alto Purús Reserved Zone, and the Cordillera Azul National Park. Other forest land in Peru can receive grant funding by a majority vote of the Oversight Committee in accordance with the terms of the Forest Conservation Agreement.
Completed in September 2008, the second debt-for-nature agreement will generate more than $25 million over the next seven years. In return, the government of Peru has committed these funds to support grants to protect tropical rain forests of the southwestern Amazon Basin and dry forests of the Central Andes. These areas are home to dense concentrations of endemic birds such as the Andean Condor and Parakeet, primates including the Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey and Howler Monkey, other mammals such as the Jaguar, Amazonian Manatee, Giant Otter, Spectacled Bear and Amazon River Dolphin, and many unique plants. Rivers that flow from these forests supply water to downstream communities who depend on them for livelihood and survival. This agreement will complement the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, which includes a number of forest protection provisions.
Websites: TFCA I, TFCA II
Republic of the Philippines
The governments of the United States and the Republic of the Philippines concluded a debt reduction agreement under TFCA in September 2002, which will generate $8 million for small grants for forest conservation activities over 14 years. While the funds may be used for a variety of protection and management purposes, the agreements identify conservation of coastal forests, especially mangroves, as a priority.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources Website: www.denr.gov.ph
Uruguay
The Fund of the Americas-Uruguay, active from 1993 to 2008, was founded through a bilateral debt reduction agreement with the U.S., which reduced Uruguay’s debt by approximately $4 million. The mission of the Fund included both conservation of biological resources and the development of children and youth in Uruguay. During its more than 14 years of operation, the Fund awarded 123 grants for a total of US$ 5.8 million and leveraged over $4.2 million in counterpart funding.
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