Government of Pará celebrates approval of R$ 81.2 million from the Amazon Fund for forest recovery and socio-bioeconomy
Resources approved by BNDES, in partnership with MMA, are the largest ever released in this category to boost environmental and land regularization, bioeconomy, and local income in 27 municipalities of Baixo Amazonas and Xingu
The government of Pará, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) formalized, this Friday (14), the approval of R$ 81.2 million from the Amazon Fund for the Pará Mais Sustentável project, aimed at the recovery of degraded areas, land regularization, and strengthening of the socio-bioeconomy in the State. This is the largest amount of resources ever released by the Fund for this category.
The announcement took place during COP30, at the BNDES House, located in the Conjunto dos Mercedários, in Belém, and was attended by Governor Helder Barbalho, the socio-environmental director of BNDES, Tereza Campello, the rector of UFPA, Gilmar Pereira, the extraordinary secretary for Deforestation Control and Territorial Environmental Planning of MMA, André Lima, as well as heads of environmental departments of the government of Pará.
Governor Helder Barbalho emphasized that the initiative consolidates a new model of relationship between Pará and the forest and sustainable development. “Today we take an extremely important step for Pará to build a new story in land use, in the relationship with the environment and with the Amazon rainforest. This is the largest contract in the history of the State with the Amazon Fund and one of the most relevant ever signed nationally. I thank BNDES and the federal government for the partnership, which allowed us to overcome bureaucracy and advance in a structuring way,” said Helder Barbalho.
The governor also highlighted the direct impact of the project on the lives of family farmers, quilombolas, and bioeconomy producers. “We are talking about a project that reaches 14,000 rural units and 27 municipalities, offering land regularization, environmental regularization, restoration of areas, and technical assistance. In addition, we support 16 bioeconomy projects and 10 quilombola areas, building a path that unites rights, duties, and sustainable production. This is how we strengthen the economy, combat deforestation, and ensure opportunities for those who produce responsibly,” he pointed out.
The project
With an execution period of 60 months and managed by the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability (Semas), Pará Mais Sustentável covers 27 municipalities in Baixo Amazonas and Xingu, which represent about 56% of the territory of Pará. Among them are Santarém, Altamira, Juruti, Oriximiná, São Félix do Xingu, Uruará, Alenquer, Mojuí dos Campos, Anapu, Porto de Moz, and Vitória do Xingu.
The socio-environmental director of BNDES, Tereza Campello, stated that the project marks a new phase of the Amazon Fund, with more scale, speed, and impact. “We are giving a new speed to the Amazon Fund, moving from R$ 300 million annually to R$ 1.2 billion. The project with the government of Pará is a reference for other States, uniting land regularization, environmental regularization, strengthening of cooperatives, and development of socio-biodiversity. It shows that it is possible to accelerate, generate real impact, and work in partnership to transform the Amazon,” she highlighted.
Incentive to socio-biodiversity
The project will be executed in partnership with the Secretariat of Family Agriculture (Seaf), the Land Institute of Pará (Iterpa), Emater, Guamá Foundation, and municipal secretariats of Environment and Agriculture. The actions will benefit family farmers, quilombola communities, productive associations, and cooperatives linked to the socio-biodiversity chains.
Among the planned initiatives are:
* support for the registration and rectification of Rural Environmental Registries (CARs);
* advancement in the land regularization of rural properties and quilombola territories;
* strengthening of technical assistance and rural extension;
* encouragement of sustainable productive activities;
* support for forest-based bionegotiations.
Solutions in bioeconomy
To boost the low-carbon economy, the project will implement Demonstrative Units of Technological Reference aimed at bioeconomy and promote training, educational campaigns, and two regional Business Fairs.
Representing MMA, Secretary André Lima highlighted the strategic role of Pará in the national climate agenda. “It is a joy to participate in the approval of this project, which reinforces the partnership between the Federal Government and Pará. The State has been an example in reducing deforestation by 50% and in implementing structuring actions. Projects like this show that combating illegalities is essential, but sustainable development can only be achieved by bringing opportunity, technical assistance, and support for bioeconomy to the territories,” he reinforced.
The expected results include an increase in validated CARs, advancement in land regularization, institutional strengthening, and dynamization of socio-biodiversity chains, generating income, adding value, and expanding opportunities for local communities.
Created in 2008, the Amazon Fund is managed by BNDES in partnership with MMA and has consolidated itself as the largest international financing mechanism for the conservation of tropical forests. More than 140 projects have already been supported, benefiting about 600 community organizations and approximately 260,000 people in the region.
Complete information about the Amazon Fund is available on the official website of the program.
