The Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA) is the largest program for conservation and sustainable use of tropical forests on the planet. It aims to protect 60 million hectares of the Brazilian Amazon by 2013. ARPA is coordinated by the Ministry of the Environment has been part of an innovative public-private partnership since its inception.

ARPA’s work in the creation and organization of protected areas is part of the National System of Protected Areas (SNUC in Portuguese), which came out of Brazil’s signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The lessons learned and the solutions developed during the implementation of the program represent an important asset for all participants and can be applied to the creation and organization of protected area in other biomes in Brazil.

ARPA received initial funding from the Global Environment Facility – GEF, through the World Bank, the German KfW Development Bank and WWF-Brazil. Implementation of the program is overseen by the Ministry of the Environment and carried out by the ICMBio and the Secretaries of the Environment of the Legal Amazon States. The German organization GTZ provides technical assistance to the program.

Funbio has funded the following activities with donations to ARPA:

Financial Management
Funbio is responsible for the financial management of ARPA which involves financial transactions in Brazil and abroad, approval of expenses, accountability and management of the Protected Areas Fund, a trust started by Funbio whose earnings are used in the maintenance of ARPA’s protected areas. Financial management is carried out with strict adherence to criteria established by donors and the Brazilian government. Independent, annual audits confirm compliance and guarantee transparency of all operations.

Procurement of Goods and Services
Funbio applies ARPA’s financial resources toward goods and services, such as cars, computers, and services related to planning, monitoring and the creation of advisory councils for nearly 60 protected areas in the Amazon. The staff at protected areas can also cover their own day-to-day expenses with a joint account created by Funbio. The on-line “Brain” is an innovative tool developed by Funbio especially for ARPA to handle and track all the protected areas’ requests. All information in the system is accessible to program partners in the form of financial reports.

Financial Sustainability for the Protected Areas
ARPA’s department of financial sustainability is run by Funbio and is active in two areas: administration of the resources of the Protected Areas Fund (FAP in Portuguese) and the study of financial and legal mechanisms to facilitate generation of funding for the protected areas. The strategy proposed by Funbio, with the support of the program’s partners, focuses not only on revenue generation from the protected areas’ assets, but also on seeking ways to receive funding from other sources such as environmental compensation and from government lotteries. This funding, along with FAP’s earnings, is sufficient to fund the long-term maintenance of the protected areas, even beyond the conclusion of the program which is scheduled for 2016.

Community Participation
The National System of Protected Areas designates a 10-km buffer zone around each protected area in which the residents are subject to norms and regulations aimed at minimizing possible negative impacts on the protected areas. ARPA compensates the residents by allotting funding for income generation and sustainable socio-economic development projects in these communities. Funbio is responsible for the distribution of funds and technical oversight of all projects.

ARPA’s management is part of Funbio’s program management department and oversees all internal facets of the program, which includes coordinating a number of departments involved in the program. Personnel in the departments of economic and financial mechanisms, purchasing, funding, information technology along with the legal and communications departments are all part of the ARPA team.

CV Database
The program hires consultants person for various types of work. To expedite the hiring and facilitate the selection of consultants, the Funbio created a Bank of Curriculum for consultants who wish to work for the Arpa can register your details. Click here to go to the registration page.

Financiers

Contact:
Daniela Leite
ARPA Management – Funbio
daniela@funbio.org.br