The Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio) is an innovative financial mechanism created to drive the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Brazil. Active since 1996, Funbio was created by a multidisciplinary group consisting of representatives from the Federal Government, academia, civil society and the business world on the strength of a USD 20 million donation from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
For the last 24 years it has been a strategic partner of these sectors and has administrated USD 614 million in disbursements to 306 projects across all of Brazil’s biomes.
How we work
National and International Donations Unit
Projects financed with private donations and resources from bi and multilateral agreements with the Brazilian government. Among the projects are the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA), the largest tropical forest protection initiative. Project management is conducted in accordance with specific rules contractually agreed with the donors.
Legal Obligations Unit
The department manages projects financed through legal obligations, such as environmental offset measures, compensation payments, commuted fines and preconditions for the obtention of environmental licenses, formalized through contracts, judicial agreements, and consent decrees/conduct adjustment accords. Among the initiatives managed under this modality are the Biodiversity Conservation Mechanism for Rio de Janeiro State (The Atlantic Forest Fund-FMA/RJ), which executes environmental compensation payments at the state’s Protected Areas (PAs).
Special Projects
This area Works with financial environment diagnoses and the design of mechanisms and instruments that enable access to new and otherwise limited-access funding sources. Among the initiatives developed by the Special Projects Unit is the Atlantic Forest Fund for the State of Rio de Janeiro (FMA/RJ), which ensured access to funds deriving from stateagreed environmental compensation payments. These sums represent an important extra-budgetary source of funding for environmental projects.
Mission
To provide strategic resources for biodiversity conservation
Vision
To be the benchmark in enabling strategic resources and solutions for the conservation of biodiversity
