Atlantic Forest Hotspot: Brazil Briefing Book
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Atlantic Forest Hotspot: Brazil Briefing Book Prepared for: Improving Linkages Between CEPF and World Bank Operations, Latin America Forum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—January 24 –25, 2005 ATLANTIC FOREST HOTSPOT: BRAZIL BRIEFING BOOK Table of Contents I. The Investment Plan • Ecosystem Profile Fact Sheet • Ecosystem Profile II. Implementation • Overview of CEPF’s Atlantic Forest Portfolio o Charts of Atlantic Forest o Map of Priority Areas for CEPF Grantmaking • Atlantic Forest Project Map • List of grants by Corridor III. Conservation Highlights • eNews and Press Releases from Atlantic Forest IV. Leveraging CEPF Investments • Table of Leveraged Funds • Documentation of Leveraged Funds CEPF FACT SHEET Atlantic Forest, Brazil Atlantic Forest Biodiversity Hotspot CEPF INVESTMENT PLANNED IN REGION Extreme environmental variations within the Atlantic Forest generate a $8 million diversity of landscapes with extraordinary biodiversity. The Atlantic Forest is one of the 25 richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on Earth. These biodiversity hotspots cover only 1.4 percent of the planet yet QUICK FACTS contain 60 percent of terrestrial species diversity. What remains of the original Atlantic Forest occurs mostly in isolated remnants that are The Atlantic Forest is most famous for 25 different kinds of primates, 20 of scattered throughout landscapes dominated by agriculture. which are found only in this hotspot. The critically endangered northern muriquis and lion tamarins are among its best-known species. The Atlantic Forest contains an estimated 250 species of mammals, 340 amphibians, THREATS 1,023 birds and approximately 20,000 trees. The Atlantic Forest once stretched 1.4 million square kilometers but has been Half of the tree species are unique to this reduced to 7 percent of its original forest cover. The region is home to hotspot. approximately 70 percent of Brazil’s 169 million people and about 80 percent of the Brazilian gross domestic product is generated there. Direct threats The vast majority of the animals and plants include logging; poaching; wildlife trade; urban and industrial development; threatened with extinction in Brazil are and deforestation driven by agriculture and expansion of pasture land. represented in the Atlantic Forest. Twelve primate species occur in the Central CEPF STRATEGY Corridor within the hotspot and represent 60 Within the Atlantic Forest hotspot, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund percent of the primates unique to the (CEPF) focuses on the Central and Serra do Mar corridors in Brazil. The Atlantic Forest. Central Corridor includes north-central Espírito Santo, a portion of north- eastern Minas Gerais and southern Bahia. The Serra do Mar Corridor The northern Serra do Mar Corridor is home includes south-central Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Minas Gerais and to the greatest concentration of endemic northeastern São Paulo State. species and the greatest concentration of threatened bird species in the hotspot. CEPF seeks to increase the number and size of priority conservation areas The CEPF focuses on two biodiversity corridors within the Atlantic Forest hotspot. 1919 M STREET, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036, USA 1.202.912.1000 FAX 1.202.912.1045 July 2002 www.cepf.net under protection and improve management in the two corridors. This goal will be accomplished through innovative public and private sector alliances and partnerships that complement existing conservation efforts in the region, such as the International Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain For- ests (PPG-7). The CEPF investment strategy, called an ecosystem profile, will be funded for five years, beginning in 2002. © Andrew Young. STRATEGIC FUNDING DIRECTIONS The CEPF strategy for the Atlantic Forest ensures funding is directed where it ABOUT US CEPF is a joint initiative of Conservation is needed most and where it can do the most good. International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the John CEPF investments in the region are guided by four strategic directions. Each D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation project must be linked to one of these to be approved for funding: and the World Bank. 1. stimulate landscape management initiatives led by civil society in the The partnership aims to dramatically Central and Serra do Mar corridors advance conservation of Earth’s biodiversity 2. improve management of existing and future public protected areas hotspots—the biologically richest and most through targeted civil society efforts threatened areas. A fundamental goal is to ensure that civil society, such as community 3. increase the number of private protected areas through civil society groups, nongovernmental organizations and efforts private sector partners, is engaged in 4. create an action fund to improve civil society identification and biodiversity conservation. management of critical areas of habitat CEPF acts as a catalyst to create strategic working alliances among diverse groups, combining unique capacities and eliminat- ing duplication of efforts for a coordinated, comprehensive approach to conservation challenges. HOW TO LEARN MORE For more information about CEPF and how to apply for grants, visit www.cepf.net. 1919 M STREET, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036, USA 1.202.912.1000 FAX 1.202.912.1045 July 2002 www.cepf.net Ecosystem Profile ATLANTIC FOREST BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT Brazil Final version December 11, 2001 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 THE ECOSYSTEM PROFILE 2 THE CORRIDOR APPROACH TO CONSERVATION 2 BACKGROUND 3 BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE ATLANTIC FOREST HOTSPOT 4 PRIORITIZATION OF CORRIDORS WITHIN THE HOTSPOT 6 SYNOPSIS OF THREATS 9 DEFORESTATION 10 DEGRADATION OF MANGROVES AND RESTINGAS 13 POACHING AND ANIMAL TRADING 13 INFRASTRUCTURE 14 DAMS 14 MINING 14 TOURISM DEVELOPMENT 14 INTRODUCTION OF ALIEN SPECIES 15 SYNOPSIS OF CURRENT INVESTMENTS 15 INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY 15 CURRENT PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS 16 MULTILATERAL DONORS 16 GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 17 NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 18 ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS 18 PRIVATE SECTOR DONORS 19 CEPF NICHE FOR INVESTMENT IN THE REGION 20 CEPF INVESTMENT STRATEGY AND PROGRAM FOCUS 21 STIMULATE LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES LED BY CIVIL SOCIETY IN CENTRAL AND SERRA DO MAR CORRIDORS 21 IMPROVE MANAGEMENT OF EXISTING AND FUTURE PUBLIC PROTECTED AREAS THROUGH TARGETED CIVIL SOCIETY EFFORTS 23 INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PRIVATE PROTECTED AREAS THROUGH CIVIL SOCIETY EFFORTS 23 CREATE AN ACTION FUND TO IMPROVE CIVIL SOCIETY IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CRITICAL AREAS OF HABITAT 24 SUSTAINABILITY 24 CONCLUSION 25 LIST OF ACRONYMS 27 INTRODUCTION The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is designed to better safeguard the world's threatened biodiversity hotspots in developing countries. It is a joint initiative of Conservation International (CI), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. CEPF provides financing to projects in biodiversity hotspots, areas with more than 60 percent of the Earth’s terrestrial species in just 1.4 percent of its land surface. A fundamental purpose of the Fund is to ensure that civil society is engaged in efforts to conserve biodiversity in the hotspots. An additional purpose is to ensure that those efforts complement existing strategies and frameworks established by local, regional, and national governments. CEPF will promote working alliances among community groups, NGOs, government, academic institutions, and the private sector, combining unique capacities and eliminating duplication of efforts for a more comprehensive approach to conservation. CEPF is unique among funding mechanisms in that it focuses on biological areas rather than political boundaries and will examine conservation threats on a corridor-wide basis for maximum return on investment. It will also focus on transboundary cooperation when areas rich in biological value straddle national borders, or in areas where a regional approach will be more effective than a national approach. CEPF aims to provide civil society with an agile and flexible funding mechanism complementing funding currently available to government agencies. Although important projects are already being developed in the Atlantic Forest region, CEPF will make a key contribution to this hotspot, since current investments in this region are insufficient for effective conservation. In particular, CEPF funding will allow the coordination of projects supporting two biodiversity corridors in the Atlantic Forest — the Serra do Mar and the Central Corridor — in order to focus efforts on the richest biodiversity and critical regions within this hotspot. CEPF will fill a unique niche in the Atlantic Forest by providing incremental value within certain themes to projects that complement the objectives established by the existing PPG-7 (Pilot Program of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment) subprogram for the Atlantic Forest. The CEPF niche will be to catalyze innovative NGO approaches to corridor conservation efforts, directing a majority of resources to the Central and Serra do Mar corridors. CEPF also expects to deploy a small portion of the funding to support initiatives that aim to intercede on behalf of critically important species and areas outside the selected corridors and to build local capacity in support of those initiatives. Specifically to Atlantic Forest hotspot, CEPF will focus on providing resources to: support innovative economic incentives for conservation; expand and support the