On August 7th, 2018, CSF-Brazil, the Forest Code Observatory (OCF) and the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio) facilitated a "Dialogue on economic instruments and ecological identity for the Forest Code implementation." Forty-five professionals, representing government, research institutions and rural producers, attended the event in Brasília. The dialogue provided a forum to discuss possible ways of implementing the provisions of the Forest Code (Law 12.651 / 2012), including economic incentives, Legal Reserves (LRs) compensation, and the ecological identity requirement for compensation - according to the ruling of the Supreme Court Federal Court (STF) in February 2018 - with a special focus on the Environmental Reserve Quotas (CRAs) market.

Highway in Ecuador. Photo credit: Shutterstock/ Dr. Morley Read.

Participants during the closing ceremony, waving the symbol of L for ‘Lestari’ (Green). Photo credit: C. Desta Pratama.

Azis Khan participating in the 2018 Training of Trainers course, with instructor John Lynham.

Phanor Montoya Maya, Director of Corales de Paz, Colombia. Photo: Niki Gribi

Most decisions regarding the environmental and social impacts of infrastructure projects in the Brazilian Amazon are arbitrated by judges, which means that there are often no clear criteria to establish compensation values.

CSF-Brazil Director, Pedro Gasparinetti, CSF-Brazil consultant, Rodrigo Ozorio, and leaders from the Wazare indigenous village.

For the past year, CSF-Bolivia has been working on an innovative platform called CASA Verde which aims to engage different sectors of Bolivian society including conservation NGOs, private companies, and the general public, who are interested in contributing to environmental conservation. The main objective of CASA Verde is to improve conservation of ecosystems that sustain life and productive activities in Bolivia by promoting greater participation and awareness in society. CASA Verde will also contribute to the implementation of the commitments assumed by Bolivia in the National Development Plan, as well as the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Luky Adrianto, Dean of Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science of IPB Bogor, giving an opening speech during the workshop. Photo credit: Imanda Pradana.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is responsible for managing over $16 billion in non-military aid and assistance around the world. Among the agency’s projects are many that conserve and protect threatened ecosystems, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and support community adaptation to the effects of climate change.