Management of grant for indigenous peoples of the Amazon

(Caracas, August 12, 1992).- The first meeting of the coordination committee of the Regional Support Program for the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin was held in the CAF headquarters in Caracas on August 6 and 7.

The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate the use of a US$2 million grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) granted to CAF as manager. The grant will benefit about 120,000 indigenous people of the Amazon Basin of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

The meeting was attended by representatives of IFAD, Roberto Haudry; CAF, Flavio Tamayo; International Labor Organization, Jorge Dandler; Amazon Cooperation Treaty, Luis Carrera; and coordinator of the Amazon basin indigenous organizations, Roberto Espinoza.

CAF President & CEO Enrique García said the grant was important because it would allow 16 indigenous peoples to directly develop their projects, determining their priorities without intermediaries and applying innovative formulas for use of the funds.

CAF has granted a technical assistance grant of US$150,000 to this program as a contribution to the pre-investment studies, he added.

"We will invest funds in a population which develops very profitable activities and which has a deep knowledge of its environment and knows how to manage it," the IFAD representative said. "This guarantees the success of the program," he added.

CAF has been an IFAD cooperating institution for 10 years, and is responsible for managing the funds which the organization grants to Andean Group member countries. The Corporation is currently managing nine loans and two grants totaling US$108 million.

The difficult situation of the Amazon indigenous peoples and the need to protect their forests was the reason why IFAD - whose specific mandate is to reduce rural poverty and work in favor of environmentally sustainable development - made this grant to implement a Regional Program, which recognizes that the survival of indigenous peoples and strengthening their cultures are indispensable requirements for preserving the environment.

The program aims to overcome the limitations that prevent the socioeconomic development of these peoples by adopting initiatives which have an activating function in regional indigenous development and which generate projects of greater scope, which can be extended to other indigenous groups with financial backing from the governments of the Amazon countries and international organizations.

The Amazon tropical forest has the world’s highest concentration of biodiversity, and is believed to perform an important function in stabilizing the world climate. In recent years, its sustainable management has become a key issue for organizations concerned with regional and national development. Moreover, the indigenous peoples’ extensive practical knowledge of the plant and animal species of the Amazon goes much deeper than Western scientific knowledge of the ecology of the region.

To strengthen the productive and organizational capacity of local indigenous communities with respect to managing their territories and development, 20 micro-projects will be executed covering a range of agricultural and forest activities and preparation of local products, including crafts. A set of products of high commercial value will be developed, such as pepper, vanilla, gum, Brazil nuts and sangre de drago. The forest activities will focus on products known for their high market value, such as cinnamon, cacao, rubber, resins and fibers such as the much appreciated chiquichiqui.

The program also aims to develop education and health activities adapted to the cultural and environmental conditions, combined with a legal assistance plan to protect the land rights of the indigenous organizations. It is hoped that this program will help recognize that protecting the Amazon tropical forest has to begin with protecting the cultures and improving the living conditions of the people who inhabit them.