Earth Day: USAID supports new investments in biodiversity conservation
April, 2022 - Earth Day 2022’s theme is “Invest in Our Planet”, and it encourages people, governments and companies to act boldly and with innovation to address the challenges of climate change.
The Amazon is the biggest rainforest in the world and is critical to contain climate change and to regulate the planet’s climate. Forests sequester carbon from the atmosphere as they grow and store it. Deforestation and fires liberate greenhouse gasses, contributing to global warming. The region has one of the greatest biodiversity concentrations on Earth and plays a key role in regulating humidity and rains, both locally and regionally. One in every 10 species is native to the Amazon. The biodiversity and the climate role of the world’s greatest forest make it a global priority.
One of the challenges in protecting the Amazon and preserving biodiversity is promoting sustainable economic alternatives for the millions of Brazilians that live in the region. To ensure the conservation, it is essential to create jobs and income for the local population. Traditional aid mechanisms are not sufficient. USAID has acted as a catalyst and facilitator, creating new ways to finance biodiversity conservation and supporting positive impact businesses in the Amazon. This Earth Day, we highlight three of those investment initiatives:
Partnership Platform for the Amazon (PPA)
The PPA is a collective action platform, formed to catalyze an Amazon bioeconomy and promote biodiversity conservation. It fosters empowered, sustainable communities, and conserves biodiversity, forests, and natural resources. Since its creation, PPA has invested in the impact ecosystem in the region, supporting incubation and acceleration initiatives. The platform has supported over 110 businesses and 38 sustainable value chains, helping to create over 2,500 jobs.
For more information about the PPA please visit the website.
SITAWI Crowdlending Platform
The Platform allows for individuals to invest directly in businesses with positive impact. Since 2019, SITAWI has launched Amazon Crowdlending Rounds - a call for investment exclusive for Businesses in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. With support from USAID and the PPA, it mobilized over R$26 million by 700 investors.
Amazon Biodiversity Fund (ABF)
ABF is a Mirova Natural Capital impact investment fund jointly designed with USAID/Brazil and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. Launched in 2019, the fund is registered as an Investment and Participation Fund (FIP) for an 11-year term. It seeks to overcome financial challenges faced by startups in the Amazon, offering long-term impact investment to finance sustainable businesses. The fund intends to address inherent financial challenges by providing flexible, long-term, patient capital for sustainable businesses that seek transformational, positive impact on Amazon biodiversity and communities.
Since launched, the fund closed deals with four Amazon impact businesses: INOCAS Soluções em Meio Ambiente, an environmental solutions company that applies a new concept to the use of pastures by small producers, Manioca, a business that promotes Amazon food products, Horta da Terra, a producer of dehydrated non-conventional food plants and Amazonia Agroflorestal, a business that promotes recovery of degraded areas by producing agroforestry coffee. In 2020, ABF received the Fund of the Year award in the “Environmental Finance Impact Awards” multi-asset category.
