Photo: archive of projeto Saúde e Alegria

The Opportunities Fund is a financial mechanism devised upon completion of the National Public/Private Integrated Actions for Biodiversity Project—Probio II, with a view to stimulating co-financing for the supported sub-projects, the development of best practices and innovations related to the “transversalization” of biodiversity. The Fund was made possible by a donation from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the World Bank. In all, some R$13 million was earmarked for the Opportunities Fund.

When Probio II ended in 2014, the Opportunities Fund continued to provide support for the 6 sub-projects, financing pending actions and monitoring the results obtained.

Priority was given to territories with multiple economic activities, such as agriculture, husbandry, forestry, extractivism, and forest management, and those located in biodiversity conservation hotspots. To ensure the sustainability of the actions over the medium to long term, a number of different agendas were favored, including the strengthening of productive chains and incentives for forestry of native species.

The hope is that the Fund will continue to grow over the long haul, based on investments and other revenues, and thus present a replicable model for other landscapes and sectors.

About Probio II

The aim of the initiative was to encourage productive sectors to adopt the principles of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in their business activities. During the period the project was underway, various partnerships were made with the private sector that resulted in support for other sub-projects with practices integrated with productive landscapes and pro-biodiversity strategies across 6 territories in three biomes—Amazon, Atlantic Forest and the Pampas.

In addition to Funbio, the project was coordinated by the Ministry for the Environment’s Biodiversity and Forests Department and involved several private and public-sector organs, such as the Ministry for Agriculture, Husbandry and Supply, the Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation, the Ministry of Health, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardens Institute, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and the Brazilian Federal Bank (Caixa Econômica Federal).