Submission Date: 14/09/2007

Re-submission Date:

Indicative Calendar
Milestones	Expected Dates
Work Program (for FSP)	11/2007
CEO Endorsement/Approval	03/2008
GEF Agency Approval	04/2008
Implementation Start	05/2008
Mid-term Review (if planned)	04/2010
Implementation Completion	04/2013

part i: project IDentification

GEFSEC Project ID[1]: 2364

gef agency Project ID: GF/1010/

Country(ies): Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela

Project Title: Integrated and Sustainable Management of Transboundary Water Resources in the Amazon River Basin considering climate variability and change

GEF Agency(ies): , ,

Other Executing partners:

Regional Level: GS/OAS

Local Level: Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO)

National Level: National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (Bolivia); National Water Agency (Brasil); Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies (Colombia); National Water Resources Board (Ecuador);

Guyana Water Authority (Guyana); National Institute of Natural Resources (Peru); Ministry of Public Works, Hydraulic Research Division (Suriname); and, Directorate of Hydrographic Basins, Ministry of Environment (Venezuela)

GEF Focal Area (s): ,,

GEF-4 Strategic program(S): IW-SO-1: Mainly IW-SP-3 Freshwater Basins + CC-SPA

Name of parent program/umbrella project: IW-OP # 9, CC-SPA

A. Project framework (Expand table as necessary)

Project Objective: The development objective is to contribute to the effective protection and sustainable use of the water and land resources of the Amazon Basin, and manage the effects of climate change within Amazonian communities in a coordinated and coherent way. This will be accomplished by the eight signatory countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, within the framework of the ACTO, through a program of strategic interventions. Project’s specific objective is to elaborate a Strategic Action Program (SAP) for the Amazon Basin and create the necessary enabling social-economic environment for the future implementation of the SAP, inclusive of strategic measures relating to adaptation by the countries to the effects of global climate change on the Basin.
Project Components	Indicate whether Invest-ment, TA, or STA**	Expected Outcomes	Expected Outputs	Indicative GEF Financing*		Indicative Co-financing*		Total ($)
				($)	%	($)	%
1. Understanding Amazonian society	STA	1) Basin-level policy, agreed by governments and stakeholders, provides a solid and feasible framework for integrated water resources management (IWRM) in the Amazon Basin 2) Enhanced integration between laws, regulations and institutional capacities of the Basin countries, supported by appropriate regional and country institutions and local governments, adequately staffed and funded, to implement policies and programs for IWRM defined in the SAP	1) Documented results of interviews, analyses, scenarios, and reports that articulate a shared Vision of the future of the Amazon Basin 2) Inventory of legislative instruments and institutional capacities within the Basin related to the practice of IWRM	1,150,000	20	4,563,140	80	5,713,140
2. Understanding the Natural Resource Base	STA	1) Improved knowledge on targeted issues identified during the PDF-B phase 2) Improved knowledge of adaptation measures that may be required to mitigate the impacts of floods and droughts associated with climate change and variability 3) Documented scientific and technical knowledge necessary to create an agreed agenda of issues needing to be addressed in the SAP	1) Reports on specific topics necessary for formulating the TDA, and published scientific papers and presentations at technical seminars 2) Reports on specific topics necessary for the formulation of a vulnerability atlas, published scientific papers, presentations at seminars, and others 3) TDA	950,000 IW: 650,000 SPA: 300,000 for increasing adaptive capacity	24.5	2,921,865	75.5	3,871,865
3. Response Strategies	TA	1) Menu of strategic responses to the major transboundary issues of concern: developing experience in i) integrated water resources management and ii) climate change adaptation measures 2) Strengthened information base, effective dissemination system and increased awareness among stakeholders; incorporation of environmental issues and management measures in educational programs and decision making; enhanced effectiveness of actions, through adequate and broadly-based societal acceptance and understanding of the SAP; and transparent project management process 3) Water resources management institutions in the basin implement the SAP in a fiscally responsible and financially sustainable manner 4) Agreed, prioritized agenda for the sustainable utilization of the natural resources of the Amazon River Basin, based on sound science, appropriate technologies, sustainable finances, and a comprehensive communications program supporting the needs of various stakeholders in the Basin	1) Documented experiences and pilot-scale interventions in i) IWRM, and ii) CC-SPA 2) Effective and operational integrated information and project management system and databases; Environmental Education and Community Outreach Program; and a Multi-Stakeholder Participation Plan (MPP) 3) A financial strategy including a comprehensive budget for implementing the SAP, and inclusive of an inventory of potential revenue sources looking at traditional and innovative means but also fomenting partnerships with the private sector. 4) A comprehensive SAP for the IWRM of the Amazon basin including a a structured menu of concerted adaptation measures in response to a sound and rigorous vulnerability and adaptation assessment to increase the basin adaptive capacity. The SAP will cater for a communcation startegy and will also include a robust financial strategy and modus operandi for engaging the private sector.	4,275,000 IW: 1,475,000 SPA: 1,000,000 for increasing adaptive capacity IW: 600,00 CC-SPA: 700,000 for increasing adaptive capacity	10	34,976,981	90	39,251,981
4. Project management (including M&E costs)				625,000	32	1,318,104	68	1,943,104
Total project costs				7,000,000	13	43,780,090	87	50,780,090

* List the $ by project components. The percentage is the share of GEF and Co-financing respectively to the total amount for the component.

** TA = Technical Assistance; STA = Scientific & technical analysis.

B. Indicative Financing Plan Summary For The Project ($)

	Project Preparation	Project	Agency Fee	Total
GEF	700,000*	7,000,000	770,000	8,470,000
Co-financing	750,000	43,780,090		44,530,090
Total	1,450,000	50,780,090	770,000	53,000,090

* The PDF-B grant was approved and disbursed under GEF3.

C. Indicative Co-financing for the project (including project preparation amount) by source and
by name (in parenthesis) if available, ($)

Sources of Co-financing	Type of Co-financing	Amount
Project Government Contribution		32,382,100
Bolivia	in-kind	2,042,640
Brazil	in-kind	16,736,066
Colombia	in-kind	Not yet confirmed
Ecuador	in-kind	1,082,382
Guyana	in-kind	Not yet confirmed
Peru	in-kind	2,494,700
Suriname	in-kind	26,313
Venezuela	in-kind	Not yet confirmed
GEF Agency(ies)
Bilateral Aid Agency(ies)		1,750,000
Swiss Government		Under negotiation
European Union		Under negotiation
IRD/FFEM	In-kind	750,000 (confirmed)
Multilateral Agency(ies)		550,000
UNESCO – IHP (Water Balance & Map of Arid Zones)	in-kind	550,000 (confirmed)
Private Sector		50,000
Coca Cola	In cash	50,000 (confirmed)
NGO		690,000
CEBDS (Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development)	Cash	370,000 (under negotiation)
Betty Moore Foundation	Cash	320,000 (confirmed)
Others/Academia		8,357,990
UNISANTOS	in-kind	120,000 (confirmed)
UFAM, UNAMA, INPE, CNPq, UFPA, INPA, UNICAMP, USP	in-kind	4,387,990 (confirmed)
UFPA, UFRA, EMBRAPA-CPATU/AMAZON, UAP, INRENA, IIAP, SINCHI	in-kind	2,200,000 (confirmed)
IVIG/COPPE/UFRJ, UFA, ANA and State Government of Acre	in-kind	450,000 (confirmed)
UFPA, FUAM,CEFET, INPE, UNIVALI	in-kind	1,200,000 (confirmed)
TOTAL CO-FINANCING (For FP only)		43,780,090

D. GEF Resources Requested by Focal Area(s), agency (ies) share and country(ies)*

GEF Agency	Focal Area	Country Name/ Global	(in $)
			Project Preparation	Project	Agency Fee	Total
			700,000 (already disbursed)	5,000,000	570,000	6,270,000
				2,000,000	200,000	2,200,00
Total GEF Resources			700,000	7,000,000	770,000	8,470,000

* No need to provide information for this table if it is a single focal area, single country and single GEF Agency project.

part ii: project JustiFication

A. State the issue, how the project seeks to address it, and the expected global environmental benefits to be delivered: BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION: The countries of the Amazon Basin—Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela—and numerous local, national and international partners have undertaken significant research efforts in the Amazon Basin for decades. These research programs have focused on the unique ecological, hydrological, anthropological, biological, and geographic characteristics of specific areas within this vast landscape. Other stakeholders have worked to develop the vast economic potentials of the Basin. All of these efforts have taken place with little reference to three important factors necessary for the sustainable, integrated management of the Basin’s land and water resources; namely, i) the fact that the Basin forms a single hydrological system crossing national boundaries and forming an essential element of the global circulation, ii) the need for a coordinated multilateral framework for the sustainable development of the Basin’s resources in such a manner as to minimize the environmental impacts to the system while supporting human activity and national goals consistent with the international obligations of the governments, and iii) the wishes and legitimate needs of the Basin’s population for economic and social development, sanitation and water supply, and the public health. In recognition of the unified hydrographic character of the Amazon Basin, and in order to address the need for coordinated action, the Basin countries signed the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, creating the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). The ACTO, in turn, recognizing the role of the numerous stakeholders in the management of the Basin, has sought the support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in developing a Strategic Action Program (SAP) as an essential tool in responding to the needs of the Basin. This proposal is the result of that request by the Basin governments. The project outlined below seeks to employ an innovative participatory mechanism as the basis for understanding the development needs of the Basin stakeholders. Such an understanding is the foundation upon which a sustainable and responsive program of capacity building, institutional strengthening, application of feasible economic instruments, and meaningful social and economic advancement can be developed. From this foundation, the proposed project will meet the GEF strategic objectives of resolving transboundary resource use conflicts during a period of climatic change in this globally important Basin, and catalysing action by the Basin countries to manage the resources of the Basin in a sustainable manner.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE: The great paradox of the Amazon Basin is the fact that, despite being the world’s greatest patrimony of biodiversity and fresh water resources with a wealth of natural resources of all kinds, it is populated by communities whose living conditions remain often below those of communities elsewhere in the countries. This places growing political pressure on national governments not only to deal with the economic and societal complexity of the Basin but also with the environmental challenges and changes (including climate change) in such a sensitive region. In this regard, there are great disparities in regulations, institutions, human resources, and economic and financial capacities between the member states of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty. While the environmental challenges facing the basin have captured worldwide attention and contributed to external (global) pressures on the national governments to preserve the Amazon Basin, it is the underlying disparities within the region that limit the ability of the member states to address both the economic and ecologic concerns of the population. This, in turn, has exacerbated socio-economic tensions within the Basin, where the Amazonian society is seeking to utilize the natural resource base for long-term and environmentally-sustainable economic purposes.

ACTIONS TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE: This project seeks to understand and document, through an extensive process of stakeholder participation, the development needs of the Amazonian society, and propose strategic mechanisms to harmonize the legitimate expectations of the Amazonian society with access to the natural resource base for sustainable economic development in an environmentally sound manner. These actions are wholly consistent with the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) and Strategic Action Program (SAP) formulation protocols of the GEF international waters focal area. In addition, the overarching influence of climate change and variability on the hydrological and ecological systems of the basin, and therefore on Amazonian society, demand that account be taken of Strategic Programs for Adaptation (SPA) to climate change. Hence, elements of the proposed project address specifically-identified aspects of climatic change within the basin that form the nexus between climate change adaptation and international water resources management. Given the limited resources of the GEF, the vast dimensions of the Amazon Basin, and the complexity of the socio-environmental concerns, achievement of these purposes constitutes a significant and innovative contribution to the management of this globally important resource, and a necessary contribution to the practice of integrated water resources management in this multi-country basin.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS: Such actions have the potential not only to influence the lives and livelihoods of the inhabitants of this river basin, but also to affect both global oceanic and atmospheric circulations with respect to the quantity and quality of fresh water inputs to the South West Atlantic Large Marine Ecosystem and perturbations to the largest area of tropical rain forest in the world. The Amazon Basin constitutes a fundamental and sensitive element of the global hydrological cycle, and, consequently, plays an important role in global climate variability (see section E for details). Considering the Basin local, national, regional and global importance, and its roles in the context of global climate change and variability and human social and economic development, this project constitutes through this proposed Basin-wide planning effort, a fundamental first step in the protection and maintenance of a globally significant ecosystem. Amongst others, the project will contribute to biodiversity and habitat protection, ecosystem conservation, erosion prevention, water quality protection, and maintenance of a global carbon dioxide (CO2) sink, while providing a sustainable basis for human economic development within the Basin and demonstrated means of adapation to climate variability.

B. Describe the consistency of the project with national priorities/plans: The eight participating countries are signatories to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, a legal instrument signed in 1978 for the purpose of fostering integrated and sustainable development of the Amazon River Basin. Among the Treaty's objectives, particular importance is assigned to the implementation of joint activities and exchanges of information to promote harmonious development in the Amazon territories so as to ensure better environmental protection and the rational use of water resources (Articles V and XV). ACTO was created by Amendment of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty in 1998 as an institutional improvement to strengthen the process of cooperation among the countries. This project was officially presented during the Eleventh Regular Meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Council (CCH) and the Eleventh Meeting of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the ACTO, held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, during November 2002. During this meeting, the Ministers welcomed the proposal to be submitted for consideration to the GEF. The Declaration of Santa Cruz, signed by the foreign affairs ministers of the Amazon countries, stresses "the importance of water resource management and conservation in the Amazon River Basin and the need to integrate and harmonize the initiatives and efforts of each country…and the progressive melting of glaciers in the Andes Mountain Range, which could have severe consequences for the sustainability of the Amazonian forest.” In May 2007, the draft project executive summary was agreed as the basis for a submission to the GEF Council following the III Meeting of the National Coordinators for the Project, in Brasilia, with the participation of the Representatives of all eight Amazon Basin countries. The execution of this project is consistent with the Strategic Plan of the ACTO.

Additionally, the eight basin countries have ratified the following United Nations Conventions linked to the present project: i) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its main instrument, the Kyoto Protocol; ii) Convention on Biodiversity and iii) Convention on Combating Desertification; and iv) Ramsar Convention on wetlands protection. Under the UNFCCC, all eight countries have presented their respective first national communications and inventories, which have identified vulnerabilities to climate change, future climate scenarios, and the adoption of the necessary measures for adaptation to Climate Change, reflecting both the national and regional commitments to fulfilling their responsibilities pursuant to international treaties related to environmental issues.

C. Describe the consistency of the project with gef strategies and strategic programs: The convergence of the importance of the water resources of the Amazon Basin as a high value global environmental resource and as an area critical to human economic and social development in the Latin American region provides an ideal case study for the Integrated Land and Water Multiple Focal Area portfolio, allowing for the conduct of innovative demonstration projects for reducing contamination, reconciling competing uses amongst a wide range of stakeholders, and responding to climate-related variations in water flows and availability (GEF-CC Strategic Priorities for Adapation—SPA).

An essential element of any response to land and water resource management conflicts during a period of climatic change will be reconciling competing uses and formulating agreed actions by the Basin governments and their communities, while catalyzing the necessary actions and funding to resolve shared transboundary concerns. The project, therefore, is wholly consistent with GEF-IW Strategic Objective 1, and the Strategic Programs for GEF-4. The proposed project is compiled under Strategic Program No. 3 (“Balancing Overuse and Conflicting Uses of Water Resources in Transboundary Surface and Ground Water Basins”).

The inclusion of climate change adaptation measures is an integral part of, and complement to, the land and water resources management actions to be developed under the GEF-IW program. Implementation of adaptation measures is wholly consistent with the recommnedations of the countries' national communications, prepared in response to national obligations under the UNFCCC, and with the provisions of the GEF-CC-SPA.

D. Outline the Coordination with other related initiatives: Currently, there are numerous programs and projects being implemented within the Amazon basin. These projects are being implemented in a largely uncoordinated and site-specific manner, with little communication between efforts, and a significant chance of duplication among projects and between countries. While any single project would lack adequate resources to undertake a basin-scale intervention in this global mega-basin, this project has been designed to provide a coordination framework for both GEF and non-GEF projects being executed within the Amazon basin. This project aims to help the Amazonian countries to: (i) identify transboundary water resource management problems, (ii) formulate possible solutions, (iii) agree measures to reduce stress in the Basin, and (iv) identify measures of a preventive nature, within the context of climatic change and variability. These measures (policies, programs and plans), both current and foreseen within the context of the Amazon Basin, are necessary tools to reach the 2015 millennium development goals as agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, where water resources were identified as a key component for economic development and poverty reduction as well as for the rational use of shared natural resources.

E. Discuss the value-added of GEF involvement in the project demonstrated through incremental reasoning : BASELINE The Amazon Basin constitutes one of the most important and sensitive contributors to the global hydrological cycle, and, consequently, plays an important role in global climate variability. By affecting the regional tropical circulation system, anthropogenic interventions constitute an important potential contribution to modifying and influencing global climate change. The impacts of these changes also affect the Basin. Risks are not only due to projected climate change at the global level, but also to complex interactions with already existing threats, such as land clearance, forest fragmentation and fire. Over the next several decades there are significant possibilities for large-scale loss of biomass with a concomitant loss of biodiversity and livelihoods for people in the Basin.

Current research confirms that human activities trigger changes in precipitation, evaporation and discharge patterns all over the Basin, causing significant impacts on regional economic development and development opportunities, and increasing the vulnerability of its population to extreme hydrological and climatic events. Extreme climatic events have become more frequent and intense during the past decade. For example, the “El Niño” event of 1997 caused a very intense drought in the region, while the recent drought during 2005 affected large sections of the central and western Amazon Basin. This latter event was the most severe and intense of the past 100 years, and has shown the high vulnerability of the population in the Basin to extreme climate events. The drought dried up entire lagoons, triggered large-scale forest fires, resulted in fish kills, crop failures and losses of protected species, isolated villages, dried up rivers, exacerbated disease, and contributed to severe economic losses. However, the scientific knowledge on the occurrence and effects of these extreme events is still limited and urgently requires a better understanding of the complex interactions between the different factors which control the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and affect global precipitation patterns.

Human activities on the landscape have led to a process of rapid biomass destruction (deforestation); however, most of the Basin is still covered by tropical rainforest. This large ecosystem is characterized by great biodiversity of global importance. For example, the Amazon Basin accounts for more than 56% of all broad leaf forest in the world, with more than 30,000 plant species, nearly 2,000 fish species, 60 reptile species, 35 mammal families, and approximately 1,800 bird species currently being recorded. The biotechnological possibilities and the consequent economic potentials of this great reservoir of vegetal and animal species are still underestimated and poorly understood.

Development efforts in recent decades also have led to significant changes in the Amazonian environment. The proliferation of roads and highways, the increasing demands of international markets for agricultural and forest products, new waves of immigration and settlement, and oil and gas exploration has contributed to the rapid growth of cities and towns in the region's interior. Nevertheless, these efforts not only were unable to enhance the quality of life of the Amazonian population, but also contributed to the current problems of deforestation, erosion, sedimentation, and water pollution, that are expected to increase. The resulting alteration of water, energy, carbon, and nutrient cycles from changes in, inter alia, plant cover can lead to and exacerbate local, regional, and global climatic and environmental consequences.

INCREMENT To mitigate the negative environmental and social impacts of the ongoing development process, a great number of local, regional and international initiatives have been launched, realized by hundreds of NGOs, regional and international organizations, and research institutions. There are thousands of intervention projects and experiences dealing with environmental, social and economic issues, mostly independently executed and isolated from each other. The organization of this enormous quantity of disconnected and dispersed information and data, generated by these activities, in accessible information systems and data banks is one of the important future challenges facing regional stakeholders and decision makers. Assembling, analyzing, and synthesizing this information into an agreed regional strategy for the management of the Amazon Basin and its resources is critical to defining and implementing a regional approach to integrated resource management for the benefit of all.

The national water agencies and Amazonian research institutions from all the member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, and numerous nongovernmental organizations and international cooperation entities have undertaken a great number of studies on the natural resources of the Amazon Basin during the last three decades. These efforts have identified potential opportunities and limitations for economic and social development in the Basin and also noted its great hydroelectric potential and development potential, using the main tributaries for navigation. Different critical areas with serious environmental impacts due to mining, agriculture and logging activities were noted as specific “hot spots.”

ALTERNATIVE Indeed, these first GEF efforts in the Amazon Basin, as well as many other interventions and investigations, are justified by the global importance and emerging realities of the Amazon Basin. While these projects in general were successful in dealing with specific concerns, in terms of the broader Basin, the current efforts represent uncoordinated opportunities.

INCREMENTAL REASONING Consequently, the baseline, or “business-as-usual,” situation consists of multi-year development programs (approximately 5–15 years in duration) adopted by the individual governments within this multi-country basin, including investments in: i) public health, water supply, and sanitation; ii) hydroelectric energy generation and fluvial transportation; and, iii) environmental management activities that are being executed by a variety of governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders within each country. These latter activities include ongoing environmental, hydro-climatological, and meteorological monitoring programs, informational programs, and related activities at the national and local levels. The nature of these interventions is determined by each of the basin countries, according to country-level priorities and demands, without regard to the actions and activities of the other countries.

The proposed GEF interventions under the international waters and climate change focal areas provide the necessary linkages and context for such ongoing and previous activities through the development of a coordination framework (the SAP) for the Amazon Basin.

F. Indicate risks, including climate change risks, that might prevent the project objective(s) from being achieved, and if possible including risk measures that will be taken:

G. describe, if possible, the expected cost-effectiveness of the project: Taking a regional approach to the implementation of IWRM and adaptation to climate change measures in a hydrographic basin has been shown to be a much more cost effective approach compared with undertaking these actions on an individual or national basis. Cost effectiveness is two-fold when dealing with IWRM at the basin level, optimizing both human and financial resources through: (1) consideration of the transboundary dimensions of the issues to be addressed, and (2) tackling transboundary issues in such a manner as to yield global benefits. Cost effectiveness can be maximized by avoiding "double counting," such as is often the case when implementing pollution abatement practices that meet minimum requirements in an upstream area, but which result in degraded conditions downstream that require increased treatment prior to use of the abstracted waters for other economic purposes. The IWRM approach to be adopted in this project overcomes the sectoral focus of traditional water resources management activities and actions, and, hence, addresses the need for consideration of both economic and ecologic outcomes in the management of the basin as a sustainable resources during a period of global climate change and variability.

Water quality degradation has been known to restrict the availability of water for some economic purposes, and to cause, inter alia, losses of biodiversity, ecosystem change, and public health concerns. While many or even most of the management "tools" to address such concerns are well-known, their application remains a matter of the ability, both technical and financial, of communities to implement and sustain such actions. Consequently, the implementation of selected measures as pilot demonstration projects in both the GEF IW and CC-SPA focal areas is an integral part of the SAP formulation process. By developing specific and relevant interventions in indicative areas of the multi-national Amazon basin, appropriate measures can be replicated as necessary throughout the basin without further development costs. Additionally, by designing and refining such interventions within the framework of a common "vision" for the basin, applications can be located strategically so as to maximize the benefits, both economic and ecologic, to be achieved through joint action.

H. Justify the comparative advantage of GEF agency: As the only United Nations organization whose mandate and core business is the environment, UNEP brings unique institutional and professional capacities to the GEF’s work; namely, to lead the development of scientific and technical analysis and advance environmental management in GEF-financed activities, and to provide guidance in relating GEF-financed activities to global, regional, and national environmental assessments, policy frameworks and plans, and international environmental agreements. Further, the proposed actions are specifically in line with the principals of UNEP’s Environmentally Sound Management of Inland Waters (EMINWA) integrated watershed management planning process and its water stategy which promotes multifocal activities considering climate change adaptation measures as an integral part of, and complement to, land and water resources management. In partnership with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS), UNEP has implemented similar projects within the Americas, and consequently has extensive experience in implementing activities in large river basins in South America. The ACTO has ongoing experience in national and transboundary projects in the Amazon region, supporting economic and environmental management activities in the Amazon Basin since its creation.

part iii: approval/endorsement by gef operational focal point(s) and GEF agency(ies)

A. Record of Endorsement of GEF Operational Focal Point (S) on Behalf of the Government(S): (Please attach the country endorsement letter(s) or regional endorsement letter(s) with this template).

Record of ENDORSEMENT for the PDF-B – PIF ENDORSEMENT letters soon FORTHCOMING – see annex 1 for ENDORSEMENT letters.

Bolivia – Carlos Rene Manuela Vega Viceministro de Planificacion Territorial y Medio Ambiente Ministerio de Planificacion Territorial y Medio Ambiente

Date: July 05 2004

Brazil – Carlos Costa Lampert General Coordinator for Social Operations Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management

Date: April 29 2004

Columbia – Juan Pablo Bonilla Vice Minister Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development

Date: March 15 2004

Equator – Fabian Valdivieso Eguiguren Minister of Environment

Date: May 30 2004

Guyana - Doorga Persaud Executive Director Environmental Protection Agency

Date: July 28 2004

Peru – Mariano Castro Sanchez Moreno. Secretario Ejecutivo Consejo Nacional del Ambiente del Peru- CONAM

Date: July 02 2004

Suriname – M. Kerkhoffs Zerp Environment Policy Adviser Ministry of Labour, Technological Development and Environment

Date: July 22 2004

Venezuela – Oscar Hernandez Bernalette Vice Minister for North America and Multilateral Affairs

Date: March 22 2004

ACTO – Rosalia Arteaga Secretary General Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization

Date: June 2007

B. GEF Agency(ies) Certification

This request has been prepared in accordance with GEF policies and procedures and meets the GEF criteria for project identification and preparation.
Name & Signature GEF Agency Coordinator Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel United Nations Environment Programme Assistant Executive Director OIC, Division of GEF Coordination Tel: 254 20 762-4166 Shafqat.Kakakhel@unep.org	Isabelle van der Beck Project Contact Person
Date: (September 14, 2007)	Tel. and Email:+1 202 458 3772 isabelle.vanderbeck@unep.org
Name & Signature GEF Agency Coordinator	Project Contact Person
Date: (Month, Day, Year)	Tel. and Email:

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