Aiming at improving the use and implementation of mechanisms for
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in the Amazon Rainforest, the Man and Environment Institute of the Amazon (Imazon), in partnership with the Life Center Institute (ICV), analyzed the state of management of environmental and forest funds in the two states of the Union that deforest the most: Mato Grosso and Pará. According to the study, these funds exhibit many deficiencies, such as lack of transparency and monitoring.
The proposal is part of a larger project called Forest Governance Initiative that checks the management of forest and environmental resources in all Amazonian states. According to one of the authors of this analysis, Priscilla Santos, an Imazon researcher, the goal is to help improve the capacity of the funds currently in existence and also to find their main deficiencies in order to correct such deviations in future initiatives.
“States that consider creating funds as a strategy to obtain resources to implement REDD and to mitigate climate changes must learn their lessons and experiences from previous funds. Today, there are several states which are in various stages of implementing such funds, but some criteria need to be employed”, she explained.
According to her, two funds from each state were analyzed: the State Fund for the Environment of Mato Grosso (Feman/MT), MT Floresta, the State Fund for Forest Development of Pará (Fundeflor) and the State Fund for the Environment of Pará (Fema/PA). Among these four, only one of them – the
MT Floresta – has a civil participation mechanism: a committee.
As for transparency, the researcher mentions Fema/PA as an example: “Created in 1995, it has not accounted for its actions ever since”. According to Priscilla Santos, there is no information available on the number of ongoing projects, their location and so forth. She also highlights the fact that an increase in transparency can even help obtaining more resources for these funds since this would increase donor trust.
“The purpose of a fund is to lend support to projects that have a sustainable base, but in order to do that, it must have transparency and monitoring, aside from making data available on the number of projects that have been approved and supported, disclose the amounts apportioned for each one, what were the approval criteria as well as produce a goal fulfillment report and so forth. There is even a lack of follow-up on the efficacy of such initiatives”, she stated.
According to researcher Alice Thuault, from ICV, also one of the study’s authors, state funds, if properly handled, could be effective mechanisms to distribute and apply REDD resources. But for that to happen, they must obey basic principles of governance such as “administrative transparency, public participation and a capacity to execute and account for its actions before society”.
Among the other deficiencies found, is the absence of any technical support for groups that find difficulties in preparing proposals such as populations that depend on the forest but that have a low educational level to carry out the task unaided.
In the face of this reality, the study proposes adjustment measures for the funds in existence and offers guidelines for the creation and handling of new funds that are in the planning stages throughout several Amazonian states.
The demonstrative map below: Deforestation risk level per municipality in the Legal Amazon, between August 2011 and July 2012
Learn more:
Deficiencies in the governance of environmental and forest funds in Pará and Mato Grosso
Deforestation Risk Report August 2011 to July 2012
Further reading:
What is REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and what it can represent for the conservation of our forests?, by
Suzana Pádua
Brazilian REDD
The quest for REDD standardization, by
Felipe Lobo
A R$ 3,2 billion hole in the environmental budget, by
Aldem Bourscheit
