23 min listen
This US Law Has Been Protecting Tropical Forests for 25 Years
FromNature Breaking
ratings:
Length:
22 minutes
Released:
Mar 19, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Today’s episode marks International Day of Forests (March 21) by celebrating the 25th anniversary of a little-known but important US law: the Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Act, or TFCCA. At its core, the TFCCA was designed to facilitate debt-for-nature swaps, which enable developing countries to restructure the debt they owe to the US in a way that relieves their financial burden in exchange for redirecting a portion of the funds toward conservation. These swaps were conceptualized in the 1980s by Dr. Tom Lovejoy, WWF’s first chief scientist, and proved to be remarkably successful and popular. Today’s episode features a conversation with Esteban Brenes, WWF’s senior director for conservation finance, about the history of debt-for-nature swaps (2:18), how conservation funds get disbursed under the TFCCA (4:25), and some examples of specific debt-for-nature swaps that have delivered results (8:01). Esteban also shares some lessons learned from the last 25 years of implementing this law, and how those lessons can be applied going forward (14:30). LINKS: COP28 Event: 25 Years of the TFCCA 2023 Peru Debt Swap Agreement WWF Statement on 2023 Peru Debt Swap WWF Statement on 2021 Congressional Reauthorization of the TFCCA Tom Lovejoy Obituary
Released:
Mar 19, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (46)
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