What is the 20x20 initiative...?

What is the 20 × 20 initiative…?

09/02/2015

Latin America agrees and launches an initiative that will gather private funding for the restoration of forests and ecosystems, in the perspective of improving agricultural productivity and thereby reduce poverty levels.

Last December, some leaders of the Latin American continent met in Lima, Peru to create an important initiative called 20 × 20.

The purpose of this initiative is to restore 20 millions of hectares of degraded land for the 2020 year. The monetary resources to achieve this are borne by five investors who will put US $ 365 million to finance this cause.

The main investors are:

The European Althelia Foundation, which has investments in the same line in Africa and Asia, who will contribute US $ 120 million in support of agroforestry activities. The Moringa investment fund, which will contribute US $ 80 million to support agroforestry and silvopastoral activities. The investment company Permian Global, who will do so with US $ 100 million in support of reforestation activities and avoided deforestation in tropical forest biomes. The consultancy firm Terra Bella will also collaborate with a figure that can reach up to US $ 60 million in non-timber projects and sustainable agricultural projects of high value with high climate resilience and low carbon, and the NGO Rare, which will contribute about US $ 5 million in protection and recovery of cloudy and riparian forests.

The 20 × 20 Initiative is also supported by the World Resources Institute (WRI), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Tropical Agronomic Research and Teaching Center (CATIE) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN ).

The countries that will benefit are: Mexico, with 8.5 million hectares; Peru, with 3.2 million hectares; Guatemala, with 1.2 million hectares; Colombia, with 1 million hectares; Ecuador, with 0.5 million hectares; Costa Rica, with 50.000 hectares, and Chile, with 0.1 million hectares.

Likewise, the Regional Program "Patagonian Conservation", with 4.1 million hectares and the Regional Program "Model Forests", with 1.6 million hectares.

As the world prepares and moves forward to achieve a solid agreement on climate change in the context of the Paris 2015 world summit, soil restoration is absolutely essential for countries to meet their emissions targets, time that great benefits materialize for horticultural crops and agriculture in general.

Source: World Resource Institute