Brazilian biodiversity fund funbio annual report
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- Academic Community Antonio Carlos Diegues – NUPAUB/USP Cláudio Benedito V. Pádua – Fundação Universidade de Brasília Roberto Brandão Cavalcanti – UnB Environment
- The mission of FUNBIO is to serve as a catalyst for resources to support strategic actions for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in Brazil.
- The Convention on Biological Diversity: our ideals
BRAZILIAN BIODIVERSITY FUNDFUNBIOANNUAL REPORT2000Brazilian Biodiversity Fund - FUNBIO
Contents
1. Letter from the President The mission of FUNBIO is to serve as a catalyst for resources to support strategic actions for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in Brazil.The year 2000 was a period of major activity and change in the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund in light of its short but dynamic history. From the point of view of the Fund’s objectives, 2000 was a take-off period for the two main promotional programs, both focused on developing relations with the private sector, attempting to involve private enterprise in activities for the conservation and sustainable use of Brazil’s biological diversity. The Partnership Funds Program is an important step in fundraising with larger-scale stakeholders to develop environmental projects of common interest to these parties and FUNBIO. By contracting these funds, FUNBIO has raised some US$ 4 million and matched this amount with similar funds of its own. In addition to the inherent importance of these projects, the Program has demonstrated the possibility of involving the private sector in pursuing the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Brazil. Meanwhile, the Program to Support Sustainable Production has emerged with the goal of continuing and expanding sustainable production projects that had already been launched and funded by other sources and whose economic base is associated with Brazilian biological resources. FUNBIO supports economic feasibility studies for such initiatives, backing the drafting of business plans that foster not only better prospects for producing and marketing their products, but also the possibility of raising additional funds from public and private investment agencies. This program line aims to benefit and ensure the continued work of micro and small entrepreneurial interests in sustainable business. In addition, the Program for Better Practices in Ecotourism has begun to demonstrate the relevance of its proposal as well as its potential to recruit partners for projects of interest to multiple stakeholders, meanwhile ensuring the resources needed to implement such initiatives. 2000 was thus a year of maturity and progress for FUNBIO’s programs. From the institutional standpoint, 2000 marked the end of the period during which FUNBIO was hosted by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. This transition has meant not only creating and formalizing a new institution, but also developing a whole set of administrative and financial support units focused on controlling the funds transferred both to support projects and to administer the institution itself. This was a new and unforeseen challenge for the Fund’s team, who have gone to great efforts in tackling it. I see the Fund’s work as a set of excellent examples of how to combine the private sector with environmental and social causes. I can also foresee new opportunities opening up in innovative fields of business, with the private sector taking a closer approach to these issues. Again, I call on all interested parties, particularly from industry, to participate actively in this experience in the conservation and sustainable use of our country’s biological diversity. I am certain that it will be a rewarding experience and will lead to interesting developments in the near future. Roberto Konder Bornhausen President of the Governing Council 2. An Overview of Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity: our idealsThe environment and sustainable development are issues of major international debate. Despite the importance and gravity of these issues, their formal inclusion on the international diplomatic agenda only took place for the first time at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. Since this event, the issue of biological diversity/sustainable development has been discussed in a context which involves guaranteeing basic conditions for the survival of human beings. Human and environmental degradation began to be seen as intrinsically related, making it imperative to achieve the sustainability of natural resources to promote decent conditions for the survival of families and a healthy and productive environment. From this premise emerged the recognition of the need to adopt a new development model - sustainable development - emphasizing the value of natural resources, particularly the diversity of living beings, or biological diversity, for economic and social development. In 1988, the realization that biological diversity is a common good for all humankind and that it is indispensable to maintain the biosphere led the United Nations to draft a legal instrument as the basis for future actions related to biodiversity. The Convention on Biodiversity was signed by the participating nations in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is both innovative and especially daring in its proposals, since it is based on the conservation/use dyad (two apparently antagonistic premises). The CBD proposes that natural resources not merely be contained in conservation units, but rather be used by everyone conscientiously, in such a way as to guarantee the development of those who use them directly or indirectly. Proper utilization of resources should generate decent living conditions, especially in the developing countries where most of the natural habitats are found. The Convention includes 42 articles and two appendices. Article 1 of the Convention on Biological Diversity deals with “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies and appropriate funding”. Other articles define the terms and means to achieve these objectives and deal with operational and functional issues. The articles of the Convention on Biological Diversity can be divided into different groups. Some deal specifically with the conservation of biological resources. They recommend the identification and monitoring of ecosystems with high biological diversity, which contain endemic species or species threatened with extinction, or that contain medicinally or agriculturally valuable species, among others. They also deal with the need to identify activities whose impact may threaten the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. The Convention on Biological Diversity recommends the establishment of protected areas and the adequate management of these areas and the promotion of sustainable activities in areas adjacent to them (Article 8). It also highlights the importance of recovering the knowledge of indigenous and local communities to properly meet the Convention’s goals, recognizing the right of these communities to share in the benefits from the use of their knowledge. In addition, the CBD recommends that measures be adopted for ex situ conservation (Article 9), preferably in the country of origin. The document ensures that countries with biological resources retain their sovereign right to exploit such resources, in conformity with their own national legislation. The Convention also determines liability for the improper use of biological resources and the effects of environmental degradation that may reach areas beyond a country’s national jurisdiction (Articles 3 and 4). Signatory countries, according to their possibilities, should adopt national strategies and programs to promote conservation and sustainable use and to mitigate environmental impacts, or adapt existing strategies and programs, besides promoting cooperation between the public and private sectors, nongovernmental organizations, and foreign governments (Articles 5, 10, 11, 14, 17, and 18). From this perspective, it is of the utmost importance to promote educational policies that encourage and especially shed light on measures adopted for conservation and sustainable use, in addition to incentives for scientific practices capable of generating information on the functioning of ecosystems, thereby fostering their appropriate management (Articles 12 and 13). The Convention on Biological Diversity recommends that cooperation between governments not be limited merely to the exchange of technical and scientific information (Articles 15, 16, 19, 20, and 22) and suggests facilitating access to genetic resources by countries with limited biological diversity, but which detain financial and technological resources (developed countries). In addition, the Convention suggests the transfer of appropriate technology and financial support to countries rich in biological diversity, but with less economic and technological capability (developing countries). However, this transfer should respect the patent laws and property rights established under the respective legislation or obligations arising from other international agreements, in all cases reiterating the importance of sharing the benefits. The Brazilian government took measures to respond to the challenges launched by the Convention on Biological Diversity in two stages. The first, within the scope of the Ministry of the Environment, was the creation of the National Biodiversity Program (Pronabio) and the General Coordinating Body for Biodiversity (Cobio). Subsequently, within the scope of these two policy tools, Probio and FUNBIO were created, the first focused on supporting policy-making and the second on implementing projects in conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The main mechanisms for implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity, as described in Articles 21, 23, 24, and 25, are: The facilitating mechanism (better known as the “Clearing-house mechanism”), responsible for technical and scientific cooperation; the Secretariat, already established, of a purely administrative and executive nature; the Conference of the Parties (COP), consisting of delegations from all the signatory countries, observers, and representatives from civil society, held periodically with the purpose of reviewing issues pertaining to implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity; a Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), whose function is to advise the COP; a financial mechanism, exercised by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). 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