Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

[ ] 37 Brazil — Protecting the rain forest mitigates climate change A GEF-supported project in Brazil has protected nearly 70 million ha of rainforest, reducing both deforestation and CO 2 emissions Creating parks and protected areas is one of the most effective conservation strategies to protect biodiversity. Protected areas provide habitat for many species, but they also provide essential goods and ecosystem services for human wellbeing. For example, many protected areas act as natural reservoirs for agriculturally important biodiversity, including wild crop relatives, pollinators and pest control. Through two phases, the Amazon Region Protected Areas project in Brazil created 37.5 million ha of new protected areas, established sustainable development centres and consolidated 32 million ha of existing areas. In so doing, the project will save more than 1.1 billion tons of CO 2 emissions. It received the inaugural Development Impact Honours award from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2012 for helping Brazil achieve a four-year decline in deforestation rates. GEF support for establishment and management of protected area systems and associated buffer zones and biological corridors has arguably been its greatest achievement. Supporting the management of protected areas is a sound investment in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. Moreover, it provides significant additional economic and environmental benefits beyond the existence value of biodiversity. Global Environment Facility