PILOT PROGRAM UP M-=q a:,Newsletter of the Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest Volume 5, Number 1 January 1997 Rain Forest Corridors: A Promising Alternative for Protecting Biodiversity By Anthony Anderson, Senior Environment Specialist World Bank Rain Forest Unit Brazil is an enormous reservoir of biodiversity. parks and reserves throughout Brazil have become Within the Brazilian Amazon and along much of its prime targets for hunting, logging, agriculture and Atlantic coast lies about one third of the world's mining. remaining tropical rain forests, which contain an In an effort to address these problems, the Pilot extraordinary variety of plant and animal life. Recent Program has contracted a team of prominent Brazilian tallies show that Brazil's diversity of flowering plants, biologists to design a more integrated system of fishes, amphibians, birds and primates is unsurpassed, protected areas as part of the Program's Parks and placing it among a select group of countries notable for Reserves Project, currently under preparation. Under their megadiversity. this proposed new system, protected areas would be Yet efforts to protect this rich biological heritage concentrated in seven rain forest corridors located in have been haphazard, at best. Brazil's network of the Amazon and Atlantic forest regions. These parks and reserves cover about 4.5% of the country. corridors include areas of exceptional biodiversity and Many of these areas were selected in an ad hoc fashion encompass many of the existing protected areas, as based on availability and ease of appropriation rather well as indigenous lands. The five corridors proposed than biological criteria. In the Amazon region, parks in the Amazon, for example, contain 34% of the and reserves are widely scattered in remote locations, region's total forest yet concentrate at least 75% of its and with an average of one park ranger per 15,000 total biodiversity, and they link 73 protected areas and kin2, virtually all are understaffed. Populations living 116 indigenous lands. in and around protected areas are generally treated as The linkage of existing protectd areas and interlopers rather than potential allies, which indigenous lands within larger rain forest corrdors undermines local support for these areas. As a result, (Coin inthi on page 4) Abota the Pilt Progrmm The Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest supports an integrated set of projects that wil contribute to a reduction in the rate of deforestation of Brazil's rain forests in a manner consistent with the sustainable development of the area's natural and human resources, and that will provide lessons for designing future activities. The Pilot Program was launched at the request of the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized countries and also enjoys financial support from the Commission of the European Communities and the Netherlands. The total volume of financial and technical asistance pledged to the Pilot Program to date, including associated bilateral projects, is about US$250 million. The Pilot Program is coordinated by the World Bank, in accordance with agreements reached by the Pilot Program Participants (the donors and Brazil). The Pilot Program is designed to address the underlying causes of deforestation in Brazil's rain forests throug a three- pronged approach. Projects will help strengthen the capacity of the public sector to set and enforce sound environmental policy; improve management of special protected areas, including parks, extractive reserves, national forests and indigenous lands; and increase the knowledge base on conservation of the rain forest and sustainable utilization of its resources. Project Updates * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS EXIRACTIVE RESERVES A participatory planning seminar was held in From January 20-31, 1997, there will be a November 1996 to review the Demonstration Projects supervision visit to evaluate the implementation of the (PD/A) timetable through the year 2000. Attending Extractive Reserves Project, which will include a field the seminar were representatives of the Amazon visit to Extractive Reserve Rio Ouro Preto in Working Group (GTA), the Atlantic Forest Network Rond6nia. A summary of the evaluation will appear in (RMA), the Bank of Brazil, the Technical Secretariat the next issue of the Pilot Program Update. *: of PD/A, the German Agency for Technical FOREST RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Cooperation (GTZ) and the World Bank. Under the revised PD/A workplan, greater emphasis will be Negotiations ofthegrant agreement for the Forest placed on monitoring project performance and Resources Management Project were completed on communicating the results and lessons learned from October 11, 1996, andtheprojectwas approvedby the PD/A activities to a wider audience. World Bank on December 10, 1996. Signing of the grant agreement is expected to take place in early In December 1996, representatives of the PD/A February 1997. Technical Secretariat, the Bank of Brazil, Germany's Bank for Reconstruction (KfW), GTZ and the World The primary objective of the five-year project is Bank made a field visit to subprojects in the states of to support the adoption of sustainable forest Maranhao and Para to review implementation progress management systems in the Amazon through a and possible problems. The mission confirmed that combination of strategic actions and pilot experiments the subprojects had gotten off to a good start, with in priority areas. To this end, the project will support good response and participation from the local the following four components: (1) a strategic analysis beneficiary groups. The problems identified by the of public policy and incentives systems that affect the mission relate to the technical and financial forestry sector; (2) the testing of promising forest management of the subprojects and difficulties with resource management initiatives; (3) a monitoring and commercial arrangements for marketing new control program for logging activities in two pilot production. They concluded that more attention areas in the region; and (4) the development and should be paid to the managerial and economic aspects implementation of a participatory management and of the subprojects during their preparation, review and conservation plan for the Tapajos National Forest, approval, and recommended steps to be taken to located in the Amazonian state of Para. address these problems. The project as agreed at negotiations will cost A mid-term review of the PD/A project is US$20 million, to be financed by Germany through tentatively planned for May or June 1997. - KfW (US$12.5 million) and GTZ (US$2.2 million); the Rain Forest Trust (US$2 million); the United 7,77~7~~, . ..... ... . . .., . ..... ...........Kingdom through the Overseas Development Agency Your qt e ..... .......... (US$1.9 million); and the Federative Republic of -4ei4t .... Brazil (US$1.4 million). : Plot. ........... Conse..e.t.e Brazilian Rain..or... INDIGENOUS LANDS - . n.&r. latnsev nA Atta' Ran ~'r-d PIT' Prgam Qpdi By the end of 1996, the Indigenous Lands Project 11& Stree4 N.W. W Room Q 7-057 had five identification teams completing the W ...ctaJon .... 20433,..SA identification and delimitation of twelve indigenous -lito'm ,J&rditsn,s, ..ndL.ret, ,Sp ,..tl:r. : lands. Nine demarcations were nearing completion, ................................ .... ............................. .. ....... ...... . ......... .... ..and Brazil's... ..National... .IndiandBraFoundation Indan(FunatNoAl)NAwasa finalizing the bidding and contracting arrangements so SCN ~t .... . .-C work could begin in early 1997 on another twelve &L Coporae Fiancia Cener. oi~juto30/304areas. Indigenous lands scheduled to be identified or 70712-900 ilia, .....demarcated in 1996 which were not begun have been ie 5- 3-0 ;5 transferred to the 1997 work program. A supervision (Continued on page 3) RAIN FOREST PILOT PRO6RAM UPDATE Indigenous Lands (Cont. from page 2) first in real partnership," then "the selection of visit to evaluate the project is planned for January 13- prospective projects in Rondonia could open interesting 17, 1997 in Brasflia. It is expected that the 1997 perspectives for the rest of the Amazon region." *: annual work program will be reviewed and approved at SCIENCE CENTERS & DIRECTED RESEARCH that time. *% The mid-term review for the Science Centers and NATURAL RESOURCES POLICY Directed Research Project was conducted in Brazil in Special training courses in the preparation and December 1996. A summary of the results of the implementatioingofsubprojects undr the Nratul a review will appear in the next issue of the Pilot implementation of subprojects under the Natural PrgaUpte Resources Policy Project (NRPP) will take place in P. ogran Updae.: February and March 1997 throughout the Amazon International Advisory Group Meets region. Participants in the courses will include staff The Intemational Advisor from the executing agencies of all participating states. t BrazilIAn Rain These courses are an important step towards preparing - g Forest held its seventh meeting on December 2-6, 1996 in Brasflia. The IAG is composed of Progress in NRPP implementation was international experts who meet twice a year to provide commended by the International Advisory Group independent advice and evaluation of the Pilot (1AG) during its December 1996 meeting. The IAG Program. The IAG welcomed two new members, praised the advances made by some states on zoning, Mr. Derk de Groot (Dutch National Reference Center and emphasized that zoning in a given area should for Nature Management) and Mr. Roberto Smeraldi begin only after local public hearings have been held. (Friends of the Earth). The IAG also recommended the creation of a The IAG observed that since its last meeting, Sustainable Development Fund to help finance small there has been steady progress in the preparation and scale projects, and stressed the importance of implementation of projects. In evaluating the overall providing institutional strengthening activities on a competitive basis to agencies involved in carrying out prOgram, the IAG made four recommendations. the integrated subprojects. First, given the fact that the Pilot Program is now "up and running," the IAG noted that the main Pilot NRPP Mission to Rondonia Program organizations, including the World Bank and A mission led by the Technical Secretariat of the the Government of Brazil, should discuss possible NRPP visited Rond6nia in December 1996 to review refinements to operational responsibilities and potential areas for the development of integrated improved collaboration in several areas, including the subprojects. Members of the mission team included preparation and dissemination of Pilot Program local and national staff from both the NRPP and the publications. The IAG stressed once again the RondOnia Natural Resources (PLANAFLORO) importance of ensuring greater consistency and projects, as well as one LAG member. The NRPP- integration of Pilot Program projects with Associated PLANAFLORO partnership was created in an effort to Bilateral Projects, a category of projects that have coordinate the activities of both projects in the state similar aims to Pilot Program projects but which are and to build upon the valuable lessons learned funded directly by bilateral agencies of other throughout the implementation of PLANAFLORO. governments or the European Union. Based on the eight-year PLANAFLORO The second IAG recommendation focused on the experience in Rond6nia, the mission was able to participation of state governments in the design and identify two groups of five municipalities (munic(pios) implementation of Pilot Program activities-in which satisfy the necessary conditions for the particular, the Natural Resources Policy Project. development of integrated subprojects under NRPP- While recognizing the continued importance of state namely, the existence of acute environmental problems representation and participation, the IAG stressed the and the local capacity to solve them, with the active need to balance federal, state and municipal roles in participation of local stakeholders in project Pilot Program activities. preparation. According to the mission's report, if a Third, the LAG urged that more work be done to serious effort is made to "conciliate the interests of the enhance the "synergy" and internal integration of Pilot various stakeholders, and the real problems are tackled (Continued on page 4) 3 RAIN FOREST PILOT PR0GRAM UPDATE Rain Forest Corridors (Cont. from page 1) IBAMA's willingness to support Gabeira's proposal could provide a compelling alternative for biodiversity with minor modifications, bringing to an end nearly protection in Brazil. From a biological perspective, five years of legislative deadlock on this issue. this linkage would enhance the protection of large Legislation to establish a national protected areas mammals, such as jaguars, which require extensive system (Sistema de Unidades de Conservao-SNUC) hunting ranges. Within a rain forest corridor, is expected to be passed by the Brazilian Congress in currently isolated populations of the same species early 1997. * would have greater opportunities for breeding and thus 1...e..t. tb Ed.o increase the genetic variability. In addition, concentrating widely scattered parks and reserves into W att er~mYu a few rain forest corridors could strengthen the effectiveness of understaffed environLmental agencies. Pr rga paewl nld Ltest h Finally, by seeking the participation and support of e re ng y te local populations for their establishment, these p u e are t corridors could help build new constituencies for e it i au e . biodiversity protection in Brazil's Amazon and Atlantic e to t E o t t age forest regioDns. o es n a eeie.Pes edyu etrt As part of the preparation for this project, two a o f the n t drs n a planning workshops for the Amazon and Atlantic i the o o ge tw,+,lse b sr to forest corridors took place in November 1996, as well n t as a seminar on the human presence in protected areas f de (see related article below). Based on these meetings, petnt,* umrademaldrssWeok the consultancy team has produced a revised project tg r o proposal, which is scheduled for appraisal later in the year. Germany's Bank for Reconstruction (KfW), the IAG Meeting (Cont. from page 3) European Union (EUJ), the United Kingdom's Overseas Development Agency (ODA) and the Rain Forest Trust Program projects. One example of this would be to Fund have indicated support for this project, which is include in the next competition for research funds currently budgeted at US$44.7 million. *:* under the Directed Research Project the concept of l"ecological corridors" being used in the Parks and Results of Seminar on Human Presence in Reserves Project, which is currently under preparation. Protected Areas Furthermore, the IAG noted that the issue of spatial With support from the Pilot Program, the World and thematic overlap and complimentarity among Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the British Council, the projects is one which should be addressed in the Brazilian Congress hosted a seminar November 26-29, project to establish a Monitoring and Analysis Unit, 1996 on the human presence in protected areas. Over also under preparation. 200 participants examined options for reconciling the Finally, the IAG emphasized the importance of needs of local populations with environmental efforts to ensure that the Pilot Program is integrated conservation. Despite a wide range of viewpoints, the and consistent with other government initiatives for the need for maintaining some protected areas without Amazon, such as the government's "Brazil in Action" human presence was generally acknowledged. strategy for infrastructural investments in the region, Much of the debate focused on two competing the agrarian reform program, which includes legislative proposals before Congress aimed at "Extractive Settlement Projects" (PAEs), and proposed establishing a national system of protected areas. The legislation currently being considered by the Brazilian seminar participants overwhelmingly supported the Congress to revise and expand Brazil's system of proposal by Representative Fernando Gabeira (Green biodiversity conservation units. Party, PV), which defined a more decentralized and Copies of the IAG report are available from the participatory system than that proposed by the World Bank Rain Forest Unit in Brasilia and Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Washington, D.C. (see box on page two for contact Natural Resources (IBAMA). During the seminar, the information). The next meeting of the IAG is President of IBAMA, Mr. Eduardo Martins, indicated tentatively set for July 1997. * 4 RAIN FOREST PILOT PROCJRAM UPDATE