On Thursday 3 November, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES, in the Portuguese acronym) and the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama, in the Portuguese acronym) signed a contract to finance the Amazon Fund. The resources will be used to provide logistical support to environmental surveillance and deforestation control activities in the Legal Amazon.

The President of Ibama, Suely Araújo, points out that this contract is innovative, as the resources can be used to cover running costs. The project will ensure the maintenance of Ibama's surveillance actions for 15 months, with a total estimated budget of R$ 56.3 million. These funds will be used to pay for air and land transport rental services used in field surveillance actions in those areas suffering the strongest deforestation pressure.

"Without a helicopter or a car, I cannot carry out my surveillance duties. Therefore, sometimes it is more important for an agency like us to receive funds for running costs, rather than investments", says Ms Araújo. “And these contracts represent the heaviest burden for Ibama on a daily basis. Thanks to the new funds, we can get those resources that we were planning to use for certain activities and reallocate them to other surveillance actions. And then you can ensure more effective surveillance", she points out.

Ibama's monitoring, control and surveillance actions in the Legal Amazon were crucial for the reduction in deforestation rates from 27,700 km² in 2004 to 6,200 km² in 2015.

Suely Araújo said that a second 'more structuring' project is currently being analysed by BNDES. This other project envisages a contract to fund a technology upgrade of Ibama's means of surveillance.

Amazon Fund

The Amazon Fund is managed by BNDES under the coordination of the Environment Ministry. It focuses on environmental monitoring and control, territorial and land use planning, and promotion of sustainable productive activities.

This new funding contract signed with Ibama integrates the Fund's portfolio, which currently supports 85 projects at a total value of R$ 1.3 billion. This is the second Ibama project that benefits from Amazon Fund resources. In 2014, the Amazon Fund provided R$ 14.7 million to Ibama for the strengthening of the National Forest Fire Prevention and Combat Centre (Prevfogo, in the Portuguese acronym).