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The Amazon is the largest tropical primary forest on Earth and one of the most biodiverse places. The Amazon also serves as the cornerstone of climate regulation and cultural diversity for the region and the globe. For the past three decades, the Global Environmental Fund has recognized the critical significance of the Amazon and provided unwavering support through pivotal initiatives and funding, most recently demonstrated by the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Integrated Program (ASL) approved in 2015.

The Amazon covers about 40 percent of Colombia and holds over 60 percent of its natural forests. As one of the world’s major biodiversity reservoirs, the Colombian Amazon plays critical roles in regulating the hydrological cycle, capturing carbon, maintaining regional ecological connectivity, and supporting more than 300 Indigenous and rural communities. Yet, the region is experiencing rapid deforestation, with 113,000 hectares lost in 2021 alone.

Governments are confronted with a range of economic, ecological, and political choices in achieving sustainable forest management (SFM). Countries with forest resources face three major challenges: how to avoid further deforestation; how to improve management of forest resources and avoid practices that continue to degrade forests; and how to restore forest landscapes that have been degraded. Only by addressing these challenges simultaneously can the sustainable flow of forest goods and ecosystem services be achieved.

GEF Council members visited project sites in the Amazonas state of Brazil.

The agreement by 110 countries at COP26 in Glasgow to halt and reverse deforestation within the decade is very good news. But what will it take for change to actually happen? This is not the first time world leaders have made such a commitment – the successes and failures in the fight to save one of the world’s most critically important ecosystems give us some clues.

This publication documents the progress and results achieved by the national and regional projects during 2020 in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. These accomplishments are a result of the strong collaboration among the national and subnational governments and executing agencies, GEF implementing agencies, and especially, the effort put forth by the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program teams, their partners, and the communities we serve.

María Belén Durán is the GEF’s Operational Focal Point in Ecuador, and the Coordinator of International Cooperation in the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment and Water. In an interview, she shared what she finds motivating about her work advancing her country’s environmental priorities. What does your job in Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment and Water entail?

Representatives of the Global Environment Facility’s COVID-19 Task Force joined an International Conservation Caucus Foundation briefing for U.S. Congress members to present research on the links between deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, and health risks from zoonotic diseases, making the case for an integrated approach to tackling these challenges.