anyone have more info on this PP-G7 in brazil?

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PP-G7: a rare example of good environmental results - 23/06/2002

 

Locality: São Paulo - SP

Source: Agência Estado

Link: http://www.estadao.com.br/agestado/

 

 

Campinas - A programme of international, de-bureaucratised co-operation, capable

of affecting small or isolated communities, reinforcing sustainable development

and conservation initiatives in Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest. That is a

definition of the Pilot Programme for the Protection of Tropical Forests, one of

the few positive results of the Rio 92 Conference which Brazil will be

presenting at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio +10) in

Johannesburg in August.

 

The principal results of the programme and the beginning of the second phase

will be announced by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in Rio de Janeiro. The

project will cease to be a pilot project and will now become operational with a

major influence on public policy. It will be re-organised along thematic lines:

public and community management of protected areas (conservation units and

indigenous areas); the sustainable use of natural resources; monitoring,

prevention and control of deforestation and burnings; territorial development

and local sustainable development; and science and technology for sustainable

development. The new phase will be implemented by 2003 and is likely to be

concluded in 2010.

 

Also known as PP-G7, the programme is financed by the G7 nations, the European

Union and the Brazilian government through a fund managed by the World Bank: the

Rainforest Trust Fund. The largest individual contributing nation in Germany,

responsible for 41% of donations.

 

The programme began in 1994 and has become a rare example of financial and

environmental efficiency. The total available resources are US$280 million. It

is hoped that this figure could reach US$340. The resources are distributed to

26 sub-programmes and projects. The projects are the result of partnerships

between federal and state governments and non-governmental organisations.

 

" The PP-G7 has a fundamental role in the structuring of state environmental

organisations in the Amazon region " , said Márcio Santilli, the programme's

current co-ordinator. " The most positive result of PP-G7 has been in the

partnerships with civil society: there are around 200 projects whic have forged

social capital and guaranteed market access for projects, associations and

non-governmental organisations, which before did not have the conditions to take

their proposals forward " , added Santilli. He also highlighted the programme's

success in the demarcation of indigenous territories: 29 million hectares

ratified in the last six years, particularly in the Upper Negro river region and

in the Javari Valley.

 

The demarcation of indigenous lands and the structuring of sustainable business

have also been incorporated into PP-G7's aims. The programme's successes have

inspired the creation of a sub-programme of Indigenous

Peoples Projects. The objective of the sub-programme is to support initiatives

in indigenous communities in Amazonia, strengthening their cultures, maintaining

their traditional way of life, whilst also developing

alternatives of sustainable economic development.

 

These are some of the positive results of the PP-G7

 

a. US$280 million spent in seven years.

b.188 projects in Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest.

c. Around 800 non-governmental organisations involved in 26 sub-programmes and

projects.

d. 2.1 million hectares of extractivist reserves created.

e. Regularisation of four large extractivist reserves: Chico Mendes and Alto

Juruá (in Acre), Rio Ouro Preto (in Rondonia) and Rio Cajari (in Amapa).

f. Demarcation of 59 new indigenous territories in Amazonia, with a total area

of 29 million hectares.

g.53 research projects on conservation and the sustainable use of natural

resources funded.

h. 12,000 people trained in 322 municipalities in fire combat and prevention.

 

Low investment, great results

 

There are 188 projects in the Demonstration Project Sub-Programme, aimed at

generating income, reduce environmental devastation and train small, isolated or

badly-structured communities. The programme is the antithesis of the traditional

model of international environmental financing which is considered to be

inflexible, unviable for base organisations and bound by public sector

budgetting rules.

 

Another successful product of the sub-programme is the establishment of the

Forests Coalition, made up of 730 non-governmental organisations and 300

indigenous organisations, divided into three networks: the Amazonian Working

Group, the Network of Atlantic Forest Non-Government Organisations and the

Co-ordination of Indigenous Organisations of Brazilian Amazonia.