This week, the Oversight Committee opened the 7th Call for the First Debt for Nature Swap between the United States and Costa Rica, which invites non-profit organizations to submit proposals for forest conservation projects, to opt for funds in quality of donation.
In this call, $ 1,000,000 will be available for the financing of projects. Those that are approved will receive the funds in colones, in amounts ranging from 15 million to 100 million, depending on the nature of the project and the proponent organization,”
explained Lesbia Sevilla, representative of the Government of Costa Rica in the Exchange and Chairperson of the Oversight Committee.
A Nature for Debt Swap is an agreement whereby a developing country that has a debt to another country, commits itself to create a fund in local currency to finance projects that help to preserve its tropical forests, in exchange for the suspension of a part of this debt.
The total amount of the First Exchange, signed in 2007, is $26,075,942. This means that by the end of payments, in 2024, the United States will have condoned more than $26 million of Costa Rica’s external debt and this money will have been invested in the objectives of the agreement.
The main objective of this debt swap, in particular, is to facilitate the conservation, protection, restoration and sustainable use of tropical forests in Costa Rica, in six Priority Geographic Areas: Osa, La Amistad, Tortuguero, Maquenque, Northeast Area of Rincón de la Vieja and Nicoya,”
added Sevilla.
To date, 31 executing agencies of 40 projects have received donations that exceed 1.7 billion colones or about 3 million dollars.
To access the funds of the 7th Call for the Swap USA-CR, the organizations can be Basic Organizations (ODB) or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and must be constituted as non-profit organizations , with activities in Costa Rica and incidence in at least one of the six Priority Geographic Areas (AGP).
Interested organizations can participate in the briefings on September 21st and 22nd in the offices of the Costa Rica Forever Association. And they should only coordinate their participation through the telephone number 2220-4270 or the email info@primercanjedeuda.org,”
said Sevilla.
Among other requirements, interested organizations are asked to submit a project proposal with their respective budget, as well as documentation that supports the organization’s ability to manage financial resources and projects. The application process is done online at: www.primercanjedeuda.org.