Legal Journals

United States, Peru Announce Debt-for-Nature Agreement

By clong

A new agreement between Peru and the United States will forgive $25 million of Peru’s foreign debt in return for a commitment to pay for nature conservation.  Under the agreement, Peru can redirect its debt payments from the United States to local funds set up to administer conservation grants to protect tropical rainforests in the Amazon basin and dry forests in the central Andes, according to the U.S. State Department.

This deal is the thirteenth debt-for-nature swap signed under the U.S. Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) of 1998, legislation that aims to provide funding for forest conservation while alleviating debt pressure on developing nations. U.S. officials estimate the TFCA deals will generate $163 million over the next 10-25 years to conserve 20 million hectares of land.  Other countries, including Panama, Bangladesh, Botswana, Belize Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Paraguay, and the Philippines have signed similar deals.

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Full post as published by Harvard International Law Journal Digest on October 31, 2008 (boomark / email).