Photo: Marizilda Cruppe

The Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) is an American law from 1998 that allows developing nations to relieve part of their national debt by converting it into investment in the conservation and sustainable development of their forests.  The first bilateral debt-for-nature swap was signed with Belize in 2001, and, since then, USAID has redirected some USD 223 million through 19 debt-treatment agreements with 14 countries.

Brazil and the USA signed one such accord in 2010, redirecting USD 20.8 million in Brazilian debt into 90 conservation initiatives across three biomes: Cerrado, Caatinga and Atlantic Forest.  Funbio is executive secretary of the TFCA Account Committee in Brazil, which is chaired by the Ministry for the Environment. Funbio receives the sums, disburses payments to the projects, monitors project development and oversees the production of periodical technico-financial reports on project execution and progress toward the stipulated targets.

In 2015, TFCA support for 82 projects ran its course and support for a further seven was undertaken in 2016 and one in 2018. Only one project is still underway in 2019.