Belém, November 17, 2025 – Today, the government of Brazil and a broad coalition of partners expanded their commitment to conserving the Amazon with the launch of a new initiative — ARPA Comunidades (ARPA Communities). Over 15 years, ARPA Comunidades will benefit more than 130,000 people and reduce deforestation pressure in 60 sustainable-use protected areas spanning 58.6 million acres, an area twice the size of Ohio. This move cements community leadership and sustainable community livelihoods as essential to the long-term protection of the Amazon.

ARPA Comunidades builds on two decades of impact through the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) program—the world’s largest tropical forest conservation initiative—which has created nearly 67 million acres and improved the management of 120 Brazilian protected areas, resulting in an estimated 104 million tons of CO₂ emissions avoided. ARPA Comunidades will add 7.4 million acres of new protected areas to ARPA, improving biodiversity conservation and reducing deforestation in this critical global ecosystem while strengthening natural resource management in ARPA’s existing sustainable-use areas.

“Traditional peoples and communities, with their ways of life and knowledge passed down through generations, are essential to addressing climate change. ARPA Communities seeks to strengthen their organizations, support the management of their territories, generate sustainable income for extractive populations based on socio-bioeconomy chains, and expand access to energy and connectivity to boost their ventures,” says Marina Silva, Brazilian Minister of Environment and Climate Change. “This joint effort by the Brazilian government and partners demonstrates that cooperation, solidarity, and co-design are effective paths to public policies that value those who protect our ecosystems.”

Today’s announcement reflects the efforts of multiple partners in collaboration with the government of Brazil, Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (FUNBIO), and WWF: Andes Amazon Fund, Bezos Earth Fund, Bobolink Foundation, Enduring Earth, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Global Environment Facility, Inter-American Development Bank, Laurie and Jeff Ubben, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of the Federal Republic of Germany through KfW, Rainforest Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Walmart Foundation, World Bank, and ZOMA LAB.

“Rainforest Trust is proud to join Brazil and our partners in the launch of ARPA Comunidades. This initiative represents the next generation of Amazon conservation with community leadership at its core. For nearly 40 years, Rainforest Trust has worked to protect critical habitats by empowering local stewards of the land. ARPA Comunidades reflects that same vision: lasting protection for the Amazon depends on the people who call it home.”

To achieve the program’s ambitious outcomes, ARPA Comunidades will strengthen local community organizations; scale sustainable nature-based production; expand access to the internet, electricity, and renewable energy; and promote inclusive governance and public policy engagement across ARPA areas. Doing so will reaffirm that the effective protection of the Amazon depends directly on the active participation of the people who have traditionally lived in and safeguarded these territories for generations.

ARPA Comunidades strengthens community-led, sustainable development by creating income-generating opportunities that depend on forest and freshwater resources and thus promote their conservation. Socio-bioeconomy activities in ARPA sustainable-use protected areas have the potential to generate $95-$132 million in annual revenue that can directly benefit over 130,000 people living in these areas, with the potential to lift 100,000 people out of poverty.

“ARPA Communities is here to innovate the governance model of our territories. It brings the possibility of a sustainable development model that guarantees access to land and a better quality of life for its people. From the moment communities play a leadership role—participating in decision-making and implementation—we will create stronger, more transparent, and active governance. I have no doubt that ARPA Communities will be a transformative instrument that will strengthen sustainable extractive production, valuing our traditions, and contributing to the preservation of our Amazon rainforest,” says Julio Barbosa, president of the National Council of Extractivist Populations.

In addition to creating economic opportunities for those communities, strengthening community organizations will help expand the defense of their rights, access to public services and policies, income generation, and food security.

Mauricio Voivodic, executive director of WWF-Brazil, states that the initiative is a decisive step toward protecting the future of the Amazon. “This is a crucial time, a dramatic tipping point, in fact, for the Amazon and the entire planet. We must safeguard the future of the Brazilian Amazon’s life-giving rainforest and local communities. The traditional populations of the Amazon region play a crucial role in protecting local biodiversity and ensuring the region’s long-term conservation. ARPA Communities will position Brazil as a global leader and provide a model for integrating conservation and nature-based livelihoods that can be replicated within Brazil and around the world.”

Rosa Lemos de Sá, secretary general and CEO of FUNBIO said, “For more than 20 years FUNBIO has been supporting some of the most important initiatives in the Amazon, including ARPA, The Amazon Region Protected Areas Program, which is now the benchmark for other Latin American countries and has inspired similar programs in Africa and Asia. Direct access to financial resources by those who deeply understand the forest is a crucial step for the conservation of the Amazon. With ARPA Comunidades, I truly believe we are changing the face and the future of the Brazilian Amazon for the better.”

ARPA Comunidades employs the Project Finance for Permanence approach, which secures the policies and funding for conservation success in a single agreement so that systems of conservation areas are well-managed, sustainably financed, and benefit the communities who depend on them for decades. ARPA Comunidades is supported by a $120 million, 15-year donor sinking fund managed by FUNBIO.

“The Brazilian Amazon looms large in our world—an irreplaceable engine for our weather, economies, and well-being. More importantly, it is home to an astonishing array of fish, trees, animals, and great diversity of languages and cultures of the many human communities who call the Amazon their home,” said Carter Roberts, President and CEO of WWF-US. “Conservation only endures when local people thrive alongside nature. The Project Finance for Permanence model behind ARPA Comunidades brings together every sector of society to create a future where both the Amazon and its people flourish.”

ARPA Comunidades is part of the growing community of PFP initiatives that are locally designed and led, and supported by Enduring Earth, a bold collaboration between The Nature Conservancy, The Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wildlife Fund, and ZOMA LAB, that partners with governments, communities, Indigenous peoples, and funders to accelerate conservation and sustainable development, address biodiversity loss, secure durable financing, and enhance economic growth, using the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model. With the addition of ARPA Comunidades, this marks the sixth PFP initiative supported by the Enduring Earth partnership, which has now helped local leadership to durably finance and conserve 518 million acres of lands and waters since its launch in 2021.

Quotes from Additional ARPA Comunidades Partners

Megan MacDowell, Executive Director of Andes Amazon Fund

“Andes Amazon Fund is honored to be a part of this new phase of the ARPA project which provides needed support to the local people working every day to protect the Amazon. As the ARPA Comunidades program strategically invests in new forest protections, we plan to provide critical follow-through for local communities: building the on-the-ground capacity and resources required for long-term conservation success in this globally important ecosystem.”

Zdenka Piskulich, Managing Director of Enduring Earth

“ARPA Comunidades is the newest addition to the Project Finance for Permanence community of sustainable finance initiatives, demonstrating what is possible when government, Indigenous peoples, local communities, and partner organizations collaborate to achieve lasting conservation and sustainable development. With the addition of this new project, over 210 million hectares of lands and waters are durably conserved with the support of Enduring Earth and partners, with ten more projects underway and more than 150 local partners engaged around the world. The momentum of this work is driven by local leadership, collective knowledge, and stewardship that safeguard biodiversity, sustain cultural vitality, expand economic opportunities, and ensure the well-being of future generations.”

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility

“Initiatives like ARPA Comunidades show how Project Finance for Permanence can secure lasting conservation. By aligning policy and supporting community-led sustainable development, we ensure protected areas thrive and communities prosper. The GEF has supported ARPA since its inception and we look forward to support this new transformative approach.”

Annette Killmer, Head of the Inter-American Development Bank Group’s Country Office in Brazil

“After looking at the territories covered by the Amazon Protected Areas program, the time has come to focus on the people who live in these territories. This will be done through an effective program of consultation and social participation, which points the way to sustainable development with inclusion. ARPA Comunidades renews our commitment to increase the impact and scale of our actions by developing joint and participatory solutions.”

Avecita Chicchón, Program Director of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

“Amazonia is vital for the world’s global biodiversity, climate goals, and for the viability of all humanity. Since 2001, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has supported partners in Andes-Amazon countries to help conserve over 400 million hectares in the Amazon. ARPA Comunidades will ensure communities have what they need for sustainable livelihoods and strong environmental stewardship, and we are proud to support Brazil’s leadership and ambitious program for the benefit of people and planet.”

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has supported previous PFP initiatives in Costa Rica, Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, Brazil, Peru, and Colombia.

Niels Annen, State Secretary for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

“ARPA sets an international benchmark for biodiversity conservation, with a strong model of long-term financing and integrated governance involving government, civil society, communities, and donors.”

James Deutsch, CEO of Rainforest Trust

“Rainforest Trust is proud to join Brazil and our partners in the launch of ARPA Comunidades. This initiative represents the next generation of Amazon conservation with community leadership at its core. For nearly 40 years, Rainforest Trust has worked to protect critical habitats by empowering local stewards of the land. ARPA Comunidades reflects that same vision: lasting protection for the Amazon depends on the people who call it home.”

Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy

“The Nature Conservancy is proud to stand alongside Brazil and local communities in this landmark effort. ARPA Comunidades reflects our commitment to long-term community-led conservation and sustainable development, helping ensure that the Amazon thrives for generations to come. This initiative demonstrates what is possible when governments, communities, and partners unite behind a shared vision: protecting one of the planet’s most vital landscapes while improving the lives of those who call it home.”

Julie Gehrki, President, Walmart Foundation

“Empowering communities is critical to protecting forests. We’re pleased our grant will support ARPA Communities, which combines conservation with inclusive sustainable development. This aligns directly with Walmart and Walmart Foundation’s Nature Goal to help protect, restore, and more sustainably manage 50 million acres and 1 million square miles of ocean. We look forward to seeing the impacts of this work and hope to see similar models scaled to other critical regions.”

Erwin de Nys, Environment Practice Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank

“ARPA Communities provides a unique, multisectoral platform for local communities, the Brazilian Government, and partners to come together and invest in safeguarding the forest, sustainable income opportunities, and improved living conditions – three dimensions that must go hand in hand. We are looking forward to this new chapter of conservation in the Amazon.”