novembro, 19 2025
By Débora Rubin, special correspondent for WWF-Brazil
In a packed event marked by emotional speeches, the Brazilian government, represented by Minister Marina Silva, along with partners such as WWF-Brazil and Funbio, launched ARPA Communities this Monday (17). Part of ARPA, the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program, the world's largest tropical forest protection initiative, the new project aims to expand protected areas, but this time with local community organizations as protagonists. This means that the money contributed by the partners will reach the grassroots level, strengthening those who actually protect the Amazon rainforest.
Over 15 years, ARPA Communities will benefit more than 130,000 people while strengthening the conservation of 60 protected areas for sustainable use, covering 23.6 million hectares. It is based on two decades of ARPA implementation, which supported the creation of 27 million hectares and strengthened the management of 120 protected areas, resulting in approximately 104 million tons of CO₂ emissions avoided between 2008 and 2020.
The event, led by Rodrigo Vieira, from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), included the participation of João Paulo Capobianco, executive secretary of the MMA, who opened the event emotionally by recalling that the ARPA Communities originated in Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's first government, back in 2002, when ARPA was launched. He added that now, in this second stage, the program was developed in collaboration with traditional communities, incorporating their input so that it could be built in the best possible way.
Mauricio Voivodic, executive director of WWF-Brazil, began by reminding everyone that everything that threatens the Amazon threatens everyone. “And as we are seeing here at COP30, through various studies, what benefits the Amazon benefits us all,” stated Maurício, in the Brazil Pavilion, in the Green Zone of COP30.
He then cited the five components of ARPA Communities: strengthening local community organisations; promoting the socio-bioeconomy; expanding electricity and internet access; creating and implementing new protected areas; and finally, monitoring and exchanging knowledge among the communities involved.
The Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, who spoke next, celebrated the moment and congratulated everyone involved in launching the program, which takes an important second step in bringing benefits to communities. “Protection is only possible with this feedback process: after the implementation of the protected areas units, with the partnership of the surrounding communities and those of sustainable management, such as those of extractive reserves (Resex),” said Marina Silva. She recalled that Chico Mendes, four decades ago, was a pioneer in creating a new concept of protected area that later became the current model of Resex.
Marina also spoke of the importance of philanthropic efforts. “Sometimes we can do things faster with philanthropic money, making the fruits of initiatives flourish. And then, it is the obligation of governments to continue,” she said.
Rosa Lemos de Sá, Secretary-General and CEO of FUNBIO – the Foundation that manages the resources allocated to the program – recalled that ARPA is already a benchmark for other Latin American countries and has inspired similar programs in Africa and Asia. “Today we are launching a US$120 million fund that will boost investments for people and nature,” she emphasized. She added that, beyond the promising numbers already mentioned by others, the project should lift more than one hundred thousand people out of poverty.
Júlio Barbosa, president of the National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS), said that the launch is the celebration of a very long and profound process of collective conversations and decisions. And, as a representative of a community directly benefited by ARPA, he expressed his gratitude: “I cannot fail to register our satisfaction with ARPA in the development of our protected areas, both in their creation process and in enabling the governance structure of these territories – with the deliberative councils and management plans. This has resulted in millions of hectares of land, forest, and water that we can say are ours. Today, we are a recognised population with the right to enjoy these territories.”
“This is the moment the baby is being born,” celebrated Carter Roberts, President of WWF-USA, who recalled the moment he first met Marina Silva and she committed to the project. Roberts expressed his emotion at the presence of Júlio Barbosa, who stated that he embodies the communities that will be impacted by the new fund. “Conservation only endures when local populations thrive alongside nature. The Project Financing for Permanence model, behind ARPA Communities, brings together all sectors of society to create a future where both the Amazon and its people thrive,” he said. Carter then invited everyone involved in the project to sign the commitment.
The launch of ARPA Communities reflects the efforts of several partners in collaboration with MMA, the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio), and WWF-Brazil: WWF-USA, the Federal Republic of Germany's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KfW, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Bezos Earth Fund, the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility, as well as the organisations Zoma Lab, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Rainforest Trust, Walmart Foundation, Bobolink Foundation, Andes Amazon Fund, Enduring Earth, and The Nature Conservancy.
“The ARPA program, created in 2002, has spanned governments – even the worst ones, being tested under harsh conditions – and has proven fundamental to the protection of the Amazon. Now, this second step will reach the communities and those who, like Júlio (Barbosa, president of the National Council of Extractive Populations, CNS), have dedicated their entire lives to the Amazon. Congratulations to everyone, I am very happy to see that what was just an idea is now a planted and harvested fruit.”
Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change
“At WWF, we know that by valuing the role of community leaders, we can achieve broader benefits in protecting the ecosystems on which we depend. The ARPA Communities program embodies this vision by addressing the causes of deforestation and building resilience for the lives and livelihoods of these people.”
Mauricio Voivodic, Executive Director of WWF-Brazil
“The ARPA Communities program values the importance of community organisations and also the strengthening of the bioeconomy with the face of our population, and not with the face of the business sector. A bioeconomy that values the tradition of the people, our way of life, our culture, that is not focused solely on capital, on profit, but on how this work can generate income and quality of life, while protecting territories and natural resources.”
Júlio Barbosa – President of the National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS).
“The ARPA Communities program began to be envisioned even before the government took office, when the president invited Marina Silva to assume the ministry. It is the result of a process involving many actors, which included many public consultations, meetings, and which would not have been possible without the invaluable support of WWF and the strategic partnership of Funbio.”
João Paulo Capobianco, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
“It is a long-term project, with intergenerational benefits, that is not based on hope and optimism, but is grounded in more than 20 years of success of ARPA Program, which has already prevented the emission of 104 million tons of carbon dioxide.”
Rosa Lemos de Sá, Secretary-General at Funbio (Brazilian Biodiversity Fund)
