Colombia is the second most biologically diverse country in the world, hosting unique ecoregions including the Northwestern Andean montane forests and approximately 10% of the Amazon rainforest. The Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) estimates that over the past two decades the country has lost an average of 310,000 hectares of forest cover per year.
With preliminary funding from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), Colombia is in the process of creating its Readiness Preparation Plan (R-PP). The Plan is being developed by the national government and civil society organizations with input from multiple stakeholder groups including indigenous populations, Afro-Colombian and campensino communities. It is expected to be finalized within the year.
Colombia’s REDD+ financing landscape is set out below:
Donor governments account for 62% of all REDD+ financeflowing to Colombia between 2009 and 2012. Over 68% of this donor government finance is flowing to international consultancies with around 13% committed to international NGOs/academia and 10% to local, Colombian NGOs/academia. The private sector and private foundations received approximately 9%, collectively.
Multilateral institutions including the World Bank and the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) committed approximately 30% of overall REDD+ finance to the country. The majority of this funding is flowing directly to the Colombian government, including the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS), as well as the government-run river basin institution, Corporación Autónoma Regional de las Cuencas de los Ríos Negro y Nare (CORNARE).
Multilateral Institutions have provided 18% percent of Colombian REDD+ finance. Private foundations, including the Moore Foundation and the Colombian Fondo para la Acción Ambiental y la Niñez (Fondo Accíon) are substantial contributors as well, providing approximately 15% of the total funds committed. Colombian institutions have also acted as donors, including the Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (COLCIENCIAS) and Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras José Benito Vives de Andreís (Invemar) along with the Colombian mining companies, Cerrjon and CCX Colombia, all of which are supporting on-the-ground REDD+ feasibility and pilot projects.
Colombian NGO and Academia represent a large portion of both first and second recipients. These recipients tend to be in-country organizations of large International NGOs including Conservation International (CI), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), while smaller local NGOs such as Funadción Natura, Corporación Ecoversa and Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas y Cambio Global Carbono y Bosques (C&B) are both first and second recipients.
Total cumulative commitments remained low, amounting to just US$3.2 million in 2010. They then increased in 2011, reaching US$33.3 million by the end of 2012. Disbursement rates have fluctuated throughout the period, reaching total of US$15.2 million, or nearly 50% by the end of 2012. Donor governments (the USA, The Netherlands, Finland, Norway, France and the UK), private foundations (Moore Foundation and Fondo para la Acción Ambiental y la Niñez-FAAN), and Mulitliateral institutions (FCPF, GEF, and World Bank) together constitute approximately 96% of all commitments.
All data presented in this chart was collected in-country through our national partner, Fundación Natura, and compiled by Forest Trends. For more information on our methodology, please visit our FAQs page.