Government unveils new stage of Amazon restoration project
The Brazilian government last week opened the third public call for proposals for the Restaura Amazônia project as part of the activities for Indigenous April. Ninety forest restoration efforts in indigenous territories will be selected to get BRL 150 million from the Amazon Fund.
Priority will be given to initiatives featuring native species, agroforestry systems, and food production. The program is a partnership involving the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, the Ministry of Agrarian Development, and the development bank BNDES.
The call covers three regions—the first consisting of the states of Amazonas, Acre, and Rondônia; the second Mato Grosso and Tocantins; and the third of Pará and Maranhão. Each should receive BRL 46 million.
The move, Environment Minister Marina Silva said, aims to help recover six million hectares of forest in the main area of deforestation in the Amazon, which also includes indigenous lands.
“We’ve been issuing calls for tenders, for example, to bring funding into strengthening the fire brigade, so we can deal with fires and restore what has been destroyed,” she noted.
Proposals may be submitted for areas of 50 to 200 hectares, with a value of BRL 1.5 million to BRL 9 million. Indigenous participation is mandatory. Applications are open until July 19.
During the launch of the call for proposals, the minister pointed out that all the efforts made to reduce deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions serve to attract more donations from other countries to the Amazon Fund.
“In the last two years, we’ve reduced around 450 million tons of carbon dioxide, which means we’ve been able to raise double the amount of funds for the Amazon Fund,” she said.
Values
The Restaura Amazônia project launched its first call for proposals in December 2024, for BRL 92 million, with a focus on restoring conservation units.
The second public call in the series was launched in March, also worth BRL 150 million and prioritized land reform settlements.
