RFI 72052724RFI00002 - USAID VOICE 1 16_24 signed.pdf

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

USAID/PERU, REGIONAL OFFICE OF ACQUISITION & ASSISTANCE (ROAA)

LA ENCALADA AVENUE, CUADRA 17

MONTERRICO – SURCO

LIMA 33, PERU

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

USAID AMAZON REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM (AREP)

ISSUANCE DATE: January 16, 2024

CLOSING DATE: March 1st, 2024 at 3pm (Local Lima Time)

SUBJECT: Request for Information (RFI) No 72052724RFI00002 - USAID Value-chain

Opportunities for Indigenous Conservation Enterprises (VOICE)

This is a Request for Information (RFI) from the USAID/PERU Mission’s Amazon Regional Environment Program (USAID/AREP). An RFI is a call for organizations to share technical or other requested information and gather feedback before we issue a formal solicitation. The RFI is one manner in which USAID explores ideas and plans for future projects in a particular technical area. With this RFI, we would like to collect responses related to the enclosed draft program description entitled “USAID Value-chain Opportunities for Indigenous Conservation Enterprises (VOICE).” Attachment #1 provides the background, draft objectives, and illustrative activities of the proposed program. The RFI questions and submission instructions are included in Attachment #2. Submissions with responses to this RFI might be considered to develop a final approach to the program description.

USAID is trying to sincerely make an intelligent well-researched design for this Regional Environment Program. We acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers and offer the opportunity for interested organizations and individuals to provide their experience, information, opinions, and recommendations to refine future approaches to advance the self-reliance of Indigenous/Maroon Peoples in the Amazon region. This program intends to improve indigenous and Maroon peoples' capacities across the Amazon region to pursue inclusive community development involving commercial activities that are environmentally and economically sustainable as well as respectful to indigenous rights and culture. These transformative conservation enterprises and bioeconomy models will provide these communities with economic benefits and promote regional conservation of natural resources in the Amazon through forest protection, sustainable practices, strengthened local governance, and associated activities.

https://www.usaid.gov/partner-with-us/responding-solicitation

RFI 72052724RFI00002

USAID recognizes that much work could be done to support indigenous/Maroon groups in the Amazon in many sectors. It is envisioned that funding requirements for this program will be limited to those approaches that reduce threats to biodiversity and drivers of greenhouse gas emissions in the Amazon region. AREP works in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname. Recommendations concerning Guyana and Suriname are of particular interest.

USAID intends to use the information received as a result of this RFI for planning purposes and to help make strategic decisions and refine any future approaches of USAID VOICE. USAID is not seeking technical or cost proposals at this time. Submissions will not be acknowledged, nor will responses be returned. Information provided in response to this RFI must be received in writing via email; telephone calls will not be accepted. The RFI is released in English with courtesy copies available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch. In case of discrepancies between these versions, the English version will govern.

USAID will not reimburse RFI respondents for any associated expenses. USAID reserves the right in its sole discretion, without liability to utilize any, all, or none of the RFI response(s) in its planning efforts. USAID sincerely appreciates respondents’ efforts and inputs.

This RFI will be open to receive responses for 45 days from the date of release. Responses should be in a Microsoft Word document no more than five (5) pages (Calibri font 12) total in length. Subject line for email responses to limasolicitations@usaid.gov must be as follows: “RFI No. 72052724RFI00002 - USAID VOICE Activity. Responses must be received by the date and time indicated in the cover letter. The submitted responses should include the following information:

Reference Number: RFI No. 72052724RFI00002 Date:

Name/Email:

Affiliation/Organization:

Address:

Phone:

Thank you for your interest in USAID programs and helping us make them more successful. We look forward to receiving your responses.

mailto:limasolicitations@usaid.gov

Sincerely, Dion Glisan Regional Agreement Officer

ATTACHMENTS:

1. ACTIVITY BACKGROUND, DRAFT OBJECTIVES, AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIVITIES (ENG)

2. RFI QUESTIONS & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS (ENG)

3. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION COVER LETTER (SPA - SOLICITUD DE INFORMACIÓN)

4. ACTIVITY BACKGROUND, DRAFT OBJECTIVES, AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIVITIES (SPA -

ANTECEDENTES DEL PROGRAMA, OBJETIVOS Y ACTIVIDADES ILUSTRATIVAS)

5. RFI QUESTIONS & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS (SPA - PREGUNTAS DEL RFI E

INSTRUCCIONES PARA LA PRESENTACIÓN)

6. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION COVER LETTER (POR - SOLICITAÇÃO DE INFORMAÇÕES)

7. ACTIVITY BACKGROUND, DRAFT OBJECTIVES, AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIVITIES (POR -

CONTEXTO DO PROGRAMA, OBJETIVOS E ATIVIDADES ILUSTRATIVAS)

8. RFI QUESTIONS & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS (POR - PERGUNTAS DO RFI E INSTRUÇÕES DE

SUBMISSÃO)

9. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION COVER LETTER (DUT - AANVRAAG OM INFORMATIE)

10. ACTIVITY BACKGROUND, DRAFT OBJECTIVES, AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIVITIES (DUT -

PROGRAMMA-ACHTERGROND, DOELSTELLINGEN EN ILLUSTRATIEVE ACTIVITEITEN)

11. RFI QUESTIONS & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS (DUT - VRAGEN EN INSTRUCTIES VOOR

INZENDING VAN RFI)

ATTACHMENT 1: PROGRAM BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES, AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIVITIES

PROGRAM BACKGROUND:

The Amazon region hosts the world’s largest tropical forest, with a third of all known species of plants and animals. The region is vital for over 33 million people, but faces severe threats from deforestation, releasing significant carbon and contributing to climate change. The Amazon rainforest’s role in global ecosystem services, capturing two billion tons of CO2 annually, underscores its importance. Yet, the pursuit of economic growth at the expense of the environment has long been a shortsighted development strategy in this region. The current regional economic model in the Amazon is highly dependent on resource extraction and exploitation, pushing the rainforest closer to its tipping point, where the biome could switch permanently from being a carbon sink to a source of carbon emissions. If current deforestation and emission trends continue, the Amazon faces irreversible damage that will devastate the region and beyond. Addressing this complex global crisis will require various multifaceted approaches including the need for strong economic incentives to boost sustainable practices and realistic circular economic models to reduce deforestation. Transformative conservation partnerships, international cooperation, and private sector engagement are all vital to preserve the Amazon's ecological and cultural wealth against these pressing threats.

The region is also home to more than 1.6 million forest-dependent communities including roughly 400 different Indigenous Peoples, ethnic groups, and the Maroons, some of whom still live in voluntary isolation, and who depend on the Amazon’s forests and waterways for their material and cultural survival while maintaining areas of great biodiversity. Many of these forest-dependent communities don’t actually reap any economic benefits from resource exploitation and despite so much deforestation in the Amazon, the forest areas managed by indigenous groups tend to have lower deforestation rates when compared to other forest areas (Ceddia et al 2015, Schleicher et al. 2017, Jusys, T. 2018). Also, on average, these territories in the Amazon basin have higher carbon density per hectare, which is partly due to their vegetation being in better condition (Walker et al., 2020). Thus, the data shows that forest-dwelling communities in Amazonian countries - in general - have a strong concern for maintaining standing forests and are capable conservation stewards, serving on the frontlines of rainforest protection.

The Maroons: Descendants of African slaves who fled the colonial Dutch forced labor plantations in Suriname and established independent communities in the interior rainforests. They have retained a distinctive identity based on their West African origins.

Bioeconomy, conservation enterprises, and other sustainable use of natural resources hold great promise for advancing Indigenous and other forest-dependent people’s development visions of maintaining the forest and conserving biodiversity. A recent study found that the preservation of the rainforest, promoting sustainable value chains, and commercializing regional products could be valued at more than eight billion US dollars per year in Brazil alone.

At the same time, the private sector is increasingly interested in sourcing and commercializing products and services from the Amazon Forest. For example, demand for ‘Superfoods’ like camu-camu, açai, bacaba, cupuaçu, aguaje, sacha inchi, and cocona are growing exponentially and offer the promise of transforming the Amazon rainforest into a hub of sustainable production, while providing transformative economic benefits to Indigenous and the Maroons.

The growth of conservation finance is also a part of this larger global movement that believes that recognizing the economic value of nature and incorporating it into economic decision-making will result in better environmental outcomes.

USAID is keenly interested in increasing private sector awareness and engagement and deepening the involvement of private actors, business practices and investments to maximize positive-sum and benefits to the environment and the socioeconomic development of Amazon communities. Partnerships with the private sector can help address many of the market constraints in these development approaches, ensuring sustainability, and creating more transformative economic value for marginalized, forest-dependent communities. To successfully scale up this market-led opportunity to promote Amazon conservation, the bioeconomy and conservation enterprises approaches will need to be both community-focused and demand-driven. As well, these efforts will be required to incorporate more comprehensive elements of enhanced forest management, governance, education, agroforestry, and land restoration to ensure impact.

In addition to bioeconomy and conservation enterprises, there is utility and growing interest in strengthening local capacities to manage climate finance instruments as an option to reduce deforestation and degradation, as well as managing the carbon “flows” (emission reductions) and “stocks” (carbon stored in nature) associated with Indigenous and other traditional

Conservation enterprises: Commercial activities generating economic and social benefits in ways that help meet conservation objectives. The hypothesis is that if income is increased, then that provides the motivation and ability to discontinue unsustainable activities, resulting in reduced threats to biodiversity.

Bioeconomy: Boosting economic opportunities and seeking to capitalize and preserve the Amazon’s rich social, cultural, and biological diversity by valuing the knowledge and ways of life of traditional populations and ensuring a just distribution of benefits.

territories and land use practices. Primarily, there is an opportunity to help Indigenous or Maroon organizations and communities improve their understanding of how existing and emerging climate finance instruments work, including its benefits and trade-offs for their territories and livelihoods. Complementary education in the form of targeted small business training, financial literacy, accounting, working capital management, entrepreneurship, investment, and legal support, can help marginalized Amazon communities to better protect and defend their economic and territorial rights.

DRAFT OBJECTIVES:

Guided by our USAID environmental protection and climate action priorities, this project seeks to partner with targeted indigenous and/or Maroons groups in the Amazon to pursue inclusive community development through commercial activities that are environmentally and economically sustainable and respectful to their rights and culture. These transformative conservation enterprises and bioeconomy models will provide these communities with economic benefits and promote regional conservation of natural resources in the Amazon through forest protection, sustainable practices, strengthened local governance, and associated activities.

To achieve this goal, USAID/AREP will work toward the following objectives:

Component 1- (85%) Support targeted Indigenous and/or the Maroons in the Amazon to keep the forest alive through conservation enterprises.

This activity will support select Indigenous and Maroon groups in the Amazon in their pursuit of nature-positive activities which generate greater economic benefits through sustainable natural resource management, while supporting critical ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration. This activity will also advance improved community-based natural resource management to improve food security and strengthen resilience in indigenous and other marginalized communities in the Amazon.

This activity intends to support market-led conservation enterprises, such as high-value non-timber forest products (NTFP), fisheries and ecotourism activities, etc. to help these forest communities produce goods and services that generate income and motivate and enable conservation behaviors that contribute to the conservation of biodiversity or improve their degraded forest (agroforestry and restoration). There is growing interest among consumers and the private sector in products and services from Indigenous Peoples and Maroon communities throughout the Amazon. Sustainable conservation enterprises, such as the trade of high-value, NTFPs or tourism, for example, can generate income in a way that aligns closely with the long-term development vision of communities while conserving precious resources. At a minimum, the activity will ensure that before starting or scaling up any conservation enterprise, a pre-feasibility study is carried out -if not done already- including a) a market analysis, b) business plan; c) an inventory of the resource and d) and an evaluation of the possible level of exploitation, among others.

Despite this vast potential, conservation enterprises face obstacles to profitability, scale, and sustainable production. Although indigenous and other forest-dependent group’s economic initiatives can be at different stages of development, most will likely require improvement to their operations and competitiveness through training, technical assistance, resources, and connections. In this activity, complementary training on different aspects should include both territorial and natural resource management aspects as well as more business-oriented aspects such as product development, service development, productivity, quality of goods, marketing, branding, communications, value added, transformation, logistics, legal aspects, organizational, accounting, financial management, negotiation, facilitating access to credit, etc.

It is also expected that the project will identify and secure new private sector buyers of socially and environmentally responsible products and services, but also create market linkages by engaging suppliers, processors, transporters, investors, distributors, certification providers and others that could increase the sales and income of conservation enterprises. Thus, developing the capacity of Indigenous and Maroon groups to sustainably engage and partner with the private sector is crucial. In many cases conservation enterprises will need the development of technical solutions to improve their production, inventories, quality, packaging, transport or other. This activity should promote both innovation and Indigenous methods of environmental conservation while providing assistance towards increasing incomes, assets, skills and productivity of indigenous enterprises and allowing these marginalized groups to participate fully in the economy. Where applicable, the activity should seek to make it easier for the Indigenous enterprises to access reliable and competitive credit.

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP): Any product other than timber that is naturally produced in forests and can be harvested for human use without cutting down trees.

These products do not kill the whole plant but use parts of it (fruits, seeds, oils, resins, leaves, etc.) which can be harvested sustainably without exceeding the rate of renewal (yields/reproduction/growth).

It is expected that this activity will support bioeconomy objectives and seek to positively impact the economic, social, and cultural wellbeing of the broader Indigenous and Maroon communities/organizations. These activities will also need to be inclusive as it has been shown that conservation enterprises can only be most effective when they bring significant economic, social, and cultural benefits to the whole community, including women and youth.

ACTIVITIES

Activity 1.1.: Create a training program focused on Indigenous/Maroon economic initiatives.

Activity 1.2.: Provide technical support to sub-national and local Indigenous/Maroon People organizations and communities that demonstrate that they have viable projects on NTFP, ecotourism activities, agroforestry, or restoration projects.

Those might include the following illustrative activities:

● Scholarships to Indigenous and/or Maroon people on forest products inventories, aquaculture techniques, ecotourism, interpretation, guiding, English, accounting, commerce, business, gender studies, among others.

● Market studies of products that have proven sustainability.

● Support communal enterprises, especially those that involve women and youth.

● Improve quality of handicraft for local, national, and international sales.

● Improve conditions to Include indigenous enterprise in the activities supported by local, sub-national governments.

● Include conservation enterprises activities in commercial platforms to increase sales.

● Development and improvement of products’ added value and innovation.

Component 2. (15%)- Improve governance and technical capacities of Indigenous and/or Maroons to enhance and strengthen activities that promote forest conservation and sustainability in their territories.

This activity will support indigenous and/or Maroon groups in the Amazon to strengthen community participation, engagement and decision-making in public matters in support of conservation objectives, the integrity of their communal land, and the long-term sustainability of local resources. It will ensure that Indigenous Peoples and Maroon communities are more meaningfully involved in decision-making processes associated with their lands, territories, and resources.

Due to uncertain tenure rights over communal land, Indigenous communities and Maroon groups are highly vulnerable to claims by external actors and are often involved in land and natural resource conflicts with neighbors or private companies. At the same time, they suffer from limited access to services, incentives and development opportunities in general. When new projects occur in indigenous lands, quite a number of community governance aspects need to be in place. As a prerequisite, the land tenure and titling need to be clear. As well, the existence of various territorial plans (Life Plan, PGTA, etc.) can be critically important as a binding framework for the decision-making of different aspects within the community. These plans provide information on the state of the forest, the use of the different zones, natural resources and projects, among others etc.

Over time, Indigenous People and Maroons have improved their capabilities in various aspects.

Indigenous/Maroon organizations need support in their administrative and financial aspects, and other features such as (project management, community organization, communications, mapping, forest governance, environmental monitoring, law, etc.) in order to better serve their communities to exercise their rights and have effective territorial governance and participation.

Improve capacities in technical and legal aspects is much required as Indigenous/Maroon communities face many challenges that affect their lands, forest and biodiversity. For example, the complexity of climate finance mechanisms and policies makes Indigenous/Maroon communities vulnerable to unscrupulous actors and hinders development or marketing of potentially lucrative and important conservation opportunities.

The activity will help improve governance aspects by educating local communities about the legal framework, concrete options, steps to follow to claim communal tenure rights and the related benefits. This activity will also provide support towards the elaboration of necessary territorial plans to better facilitate clear, accountable, and transparent decision making. This might involve supporting the community to identify needs such as education, health or capital goods that are useful to the community and sharing successful experiences and lessons learned by other local communities. The activity will also facilitate capacity development, social dialogue, local consultations and concerted action using participatory communication methods and materials. Where appropriate, the activity will strengthen overall community governance through community-level monitoring as a possible strategy to prevent deforestation, degradation and invasions in general.

Community governance: Community management and decision making but also implicating the broader aims of addressing community needs and building community capacity and wellbeing.

This regional activity will also work with trusted Indigenous/Maroon federations/organizations at sub-national levels to provide expert technical and legal guidance to understand, get educated on and assess the trade-off and benefits from climate finance mechanisms. If appropriate, this project will assist local Indigenous/Maroon groups plan and assess potential fair, inclusive and profitable climate finance deals. This will allow, as required, that Indigenous Peoples are involved and have meaningful participation in all aspects of climate finance mechanisms including its design, decisions, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, as well as benefit sharing mechanisms. Relationships between governments, communities and the private sector can be effective and sustainable if communities have the knowledge and technical expertise to establish closer and more trusting relationships with decision-makers.

To provide training in administrative, financial, technical and legal guidance, training programs will be created through the participation of Amazonian universities or other educational programs. In addition to formal education in universities or other formal schools, a targeted training program on climate finance mechanisms might be created, with sound methodological means and accessible to communities, being sensible to culture and language. Knowledge of the governance of these mechanisms should be part of the training programs. These educational products should be validated, as far as possible, by the responsible authority in each country.

This component will ensure that Indigenous Peoples and Maroon communities are meaningfully involved in decision-making processes associated with their lands, territories, resources and opportunities.

ACTIVITIES

Activity 2. 1.: Develop baseline assessment of institutional capacities (administration, financial, communication, etc.) of indigenous people organizations to be supported, institutional support plan that includes plans to improve support to their constituencies.

Activity 2.2.: Support IIPP to have better governance for NTFP, ecotourism, climate finance mechanisms (REDD+ or similar mechanisms) especially for participation and benefits-sharing to occur.

Activity 2.3.: Support governments to have better conditions for Indigenous/Maroon People participation and protection of their territories.

Activity 2.4.: Education of Indigenous/Maroon People in formal and customized programs on climate change, forest ecology, and all aspects of carbon finance mechanisms (ecological, financial, legal, social, etc.)

Activity 2.5.: Education of Indigenous/Maroon people in formal and customized programs on administrative, financial and other organizational capacities to improve capacities and technical knowledge in territorial governance and sustainable use of natural resources.

Those might include the following illustrative activities:

● Elaborations or updating territorial plans when needed for implementation of projects.

● Free, prior, and informed consultation (FPIC) as a need in particular projects.

● Governance and decision-making bodies in indigenous/Maroon people land as required.

● Support of indigenous/Maroon people participation in governance and decisions around

NTFP, ecotourism, payment for environmental services mechanism or similar.

● Support Indigenous/Maroon organizations or Indigenous/Maroon networks to better engage in/utilize payment for environmental services mechanisms, carbon markets, etc.

● Assessment of institutional capabilities of indigenous/Maroon organizations from time to time throughout the duration of the project includes a part of a continuous practice.

● Scholarship or educational program for technicians in accounting, planning, communications, finance, legal rights, mapping techniques, carbon finance themes and other capacities needed in the indigenous organizations.

● Small grants to indigenous organizations.

● Support creation of gender and youth programs in indigenous/Maroon organizations.

[END OF ATTACHMENT 1]

ATTACHMENT 2: RFI QUESTIONS AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Please include the title “RFI No. 72052724RFI00002- USAID VOICE Activity” in the subject line of your email. Be advised that the four core countries of USAID VOICE are likely to be Brazil, Ecuador, Suriname, and Guyana, but USAID would also like to learn about any potential opportunities in all seven countries - Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, Guyana, and Bolivia - especially as it pertains to Amazon regional integration. The respondent should provide the following details (in a Microsoft Word attachment):

I. Please share information on how you or your organization suggests that USAID can best provide the support needed responding to the six following questions in no more than 4 pages (Calibri, Font 12) total. In your responses, please consider the concept background and draft objectives presented in Attachment # 1. Respondents are free to answer any or all the questions below. In your responses, please provide any relevant sources for the information, including peer-reviewed or gray literature, expert opinion, project evaluation reports, and other documents.

1. Based on the provided concept background and draft objectives, is there anything missing or requiring clarification? Are the proposed actions adequate to meet the intended goal of the USAID VOICE program and if not, what are your recommendations for further refinement? Are we on the right track with the illustrative activities? Why or why not? What are the biggest barriers to implement the proposed objectives with the IIPP program? What recommendations can you provide to the public and private sectors to overcome these constraints while meeting inclusion, equity, and diversity objectives, and promoting locally-led development?

2. What are some of the untapped market opportunities for demand-driven sustainable conservation enterprises which can be targeted towards benefiting Amazonian indigenous groups? Please provide information on the commercial viability of these specific value chains including profitability, market requirements, and noteworthy constraints to commercialization such as business costs, political-risk, technology gaps, availability of labor, regulatory challenges, geographic barriers, access to finance, marketing, transportation, seasonality of supply and/or demand, domestic and foreign demand, international trade-related factors, etc. Please also provide information on the conservation value of these opportunities.

3. What are some of the promising “bioeconomy” opportunities which mimic traditional Amazon management systems, creating a diversity of supply chains based on the incredible natural wealth of the Amazon region. What bioeconomy products and services are worth considering as part of a demand-driven sustainable conservation enterprises in the region, and why?

4. List some of the regional and/or international market actors that could support Amazon indigenous peoples to sustainably develop, expand and scale up their conservation enterprises. Some illustrative examples include commodity traders, processors, transporters, financial institutions, carbon traders, business development service providers, climate investment funds, trade alliances, wholesalers, retailers and/or final consumers. Please provide specific details on these firms and explain why they would make good potential partners in terms of both creating economic value for Amazon indigenous peoples, cultural respect and promoting conservation?

5. What are some of the promising geographies in the Amazon for this demand-driven conservation enterprise approach? Please provide very specific locations, a thorough description of the potential activities, and the proposed indigenous partners and other value chains/stakeholders who should be included. Please also provide contact information if possible.

6. For networking or community building purposes, please indicate whether or not USAID is able to share your contact information as entities that would be interested in partnering or responding to the solicitation if and when one is posted.

II. Level of Interest and Organizational Capabilities relative to the IIPP program [1 page max]:

1. Level of Interest: Please provide the level of interest your organization has in participating in the IIPP Program and indicate your organization type (e.g., indigenous groups or organizations; civil society, academic/research institutions, or other private sector organizations). Please indicate whether your organization holds a SAM registration number or is in the process of registration through SAM.gov. The information collected from this RFI might be used to help make planning decisions and will not be released publicly.

2. Organizational Capabilities relative to the USAID VOICE program: Please provide your relevant organizational capabilities relative to the program background, draft objectives and illustrative activities included in Attachment 1. Respondents may include organizational information such as: past experience working in any of the noted technical areas; core capabilities; experience working with other stakeholders; experiences working with indigenous communities and indigenous people organizations in the region; experiences with demand-driven approaches to address market barriers for sustainable value chains; or other information relevant to an organization’s ability to successfully perform the tasks outlined in this RFI.

Additionally, please provide information as to what other organizations(s) you would propose to partner with to implement any or all of the objectives of this regional program. USAID is interested in promoting locally led development and partnering with a wide range of organizations, including local organizations with niche expertise.

Please send all responses to this RFI via email to limasolicitations@usaid.gov in a Microsoft Word document by the date and time indicated in the cover letter with the subject line RFI No.

72052724RFI00002 - USAID VOICE Activity.”

The submitted response and/or questions should include the following information:

Reference Number: RFI No. 72052724RFI00002 Date:

Name/Email:

Affiliation/Organization:

Address:

Phone:

[END OF ATTACHMENT 2]

ATTACHMENT 3: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION COVER LETTER (SPA - SOLICITUD DE

INFORMACIÓN)

PROGRAMA AMBIENTAL REGIONAL PARA LA AMAZONÍA DE USAID (AREP)

FECHA DE EMISIÓN: 16 de enero, 2024

FECHA DE CIERRE: 1ro de marzo, 2024, 3pm (Hora Local de Lima)

ASUNTO: Solicitud de Información (RFI) No 72052724RFI00002 - Oportunidades de

Cadena de Valor de USAID para Empresas de Conservación Indígenas

(VOICE)

Esta es una Solicitud de Información (RFI) del Programa Ambiental Regional de Amazonía de USAID/PERÚ (USAID/AREP). Una RFI es una convocatoria para que las organizaciones compartan información técnica u otra información solicitada y recopilen comentarios antes de emitir una solicitud formal. La RFI es una forma en la que USAID explora ideas y planes para futuros proyectos en un área técnica específica. Con esta RFI, nos gustaría recopilar respuestas relacionadas con la descripción preliminar adjunta del programa titulado "Oportunidades de Cadena de Valor de USAID para Empresas de Conservación Indígenas (VOICE)". El Anexo #1 proporciona antecedentes, objetivos preliminares y actividades ilustrativas del programa propuesto. Las preguntas de la RFI y las instrucciones para la presentación se incluyen en el Anexo #2. Las presentaciones con respuestas a esta RFI podrían considerarse para desarrollar un enfoque final para la descripción del programa.

USAID está sinceramente intentando crear un diseño inteligente y bien investigado para este Programa Ambiental Regional. Reconocemos que no tenemos todas las respuestas y ofrecemos la oportunidad a organizaciones e individuos interesados de proporcionar su experiencia, información, opiniones y recomendaciones para refinar enfoques futuros para avanzar en la autosuficiencia de los Pueblos Indígenas y marrones (Surinam) en la región amazónica. Este programa tiene como objetivo mejorar las capacidades de los pueblos indígenas y marrones en toda la región amazónica para buscar un desarrollo comunitario inclusivo que involucre actividades comerciales ambiental y económicamente sostenibles, así como respetuosas con los derechos y la cultura indígenas. Estas empresas transformadoras de conservación y modelos de bioeconomía proporcionarán beneficios económicos a estas comunidades y promoverán la conservación regional de los recursos naturales en la Amazonía a través de la protección forestal, prácticas sostenibles, fortalecimiento de la gobernanza local y actividades asociadas.

USAID reconoce que se podría hacer mucho trabajo para apoyar a los grupos indígenas/marrones en la Amazonía en muchos sectores. Se prevé que los requisitos de financiamiento para este programa se limitarán a aquellos enfoques que reduzcan las amenazas a la biodiversidad y los impulsores de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero en la región amazónica. AREP trabaja en Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Perú y Surinam. Las recomendaciones sobre Guyana y Surinam son de particular interés.

USAID tiene la intención de utilizar la información recibida como resultado de esta Solicitud de Información (RFI) con fines de planificación y para ayudar a tomar decisiones estratégicas y refinar cualquier enfoque futuro de USAID VOICE. En este momento, USAID no está buscando propuestas técnicas o de costos. No se reconocerán las presentaciones ni se devolverán las respuestas. La información proporcionada en respuesta a esta RFI debe recibirse por escrito por correo electrónico; no se aceptarán llamadas telefónicas. La RFI se publica en inglés con copias disponibles en español, portugués y neerlandés. En caso de discrepancias entre estas versiones, la versión en inglés prevalecerá.

USAID no reembolsará a los respondientes de la RFI por ningún gasto asociado. USAID se reserva el derecho, a su entera discreción y sin responsabilidad, de utilizar total o parcialmente ninguna de las respuestas de la RFI en sus esfuerzos de planificación. USAID aprecia sinceramente los esfuerzos e insumos de los respondientes.

Esta RFI estará abierta para recibir respuestas durante 45 días a partir de la fecha de lanzamiento. Las respuestas deben estar en un documento de Microsoft Word de no más de cinco (5) páginas (fuente Calibri 12) en total. La línea de “asunto” para las respuestas por correo electrónico a limasolicitations@usaid.gov debe ser la siguiente: "RFI No. 72052724RFI00002 - Actividad USAID VOICE". Las respuestas deben recibirse para la fecha y hora indicadas en la carta de presentación. Las respuestas enviadas deben incluir la siguiente información:

Número de referencia: RFI No. 72052724RFI00002 Fecha:

Nombre/Correo electrónico:

Afiliación/Organización:

Dirección:

Teléfono:

Gracias por su interés en los programas de USAID y por ayudarnos a hacerlos más exitosos.

Esperamos recibir sus respuestas.

Atentamente, Oficial Regional de Contratos y Convenios.

[END OF ATTACHMENT 3]

ATTACHMENT 4: ACTIVITY BACKGROUND, DRAFT OBJECTIVES, AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIVITIES

(SPA - ANTECEDENTES DEL PROGRAMA, OBJETIVOS Y ACTIVIDADES ILUSTRATIVAS)

ANTECEDENTES DEL PROGRAMA:

La región amazónica alberga el bosque tropical más grande del mundo, con un tercio de todas las especies conocidas de plantas y animales. La región es vital para más de 33 millones de personas, pero enfrenta graves amenazas debido a la deforestación, que libera una cantidad significativa de carbono y contribuye al cambio climático. El papel del bosque tropical amazónico en los servicios ecosistémicos globales, capturando dos mil millones de toneladas de CO2 anualmente, subraya su importancia. Sin embargo, la búsqueda del crecimiento económico a expensas del medio ambiente ha sido durante mucho tiempo una estrategia de desarrollo a corto plazo en esta región. El modelo económico regional actual en la Amazonía depende en gran medida de la extracción y explotación de recursos, empujando la selva tropical más cerca de su punto de inflexión, donde el bioma podría cambiar permanentemente de ser un sumidero de carbono a ser una fuente de emisiones de carbono. Si las tendencias actuales de deforestación y emisión continúan, la Amazonía enfrentará daños irreversibles que devastarán la región y más allá. Abordar esta compleja crisis global requerirá enfoques multifacéticos que incluyan la necesidad de fuertes incentivos económicos para impulsar prácticas sostenibles y modelos económicos circulares realistas para reducir la deforestación. Asociaciones de conservación transformadoras, cooperación internacional y participación del sector privado son vitales para preservar la riqueza ecológica y cultural de la Amazonía frente a estas amenazas apremiantes.

La región también alberga a más de 1.6 millones de comunidades dependientes de los bosques, que incluyen aproximadamente 400 diferentes pueblos indígenas, grupos étnicos y los Marrones, algunos de los cuales aún viven en aislamiento voluntario y dependen de los bosques y cursos de agua del Amazonas para su supervivencia material y cultural, al mismo tiempo que mantienen áreas de gran biodiversidad. Muchas de estas comunidades dependientes de los bosques no obtienen beneficios económicos de la explotación de recursos, y a pesar de la considerable deforestación en la Amazonía, las áreas de bosque gestionadas por grupos indígenas tienden a tener tasas de deforestación más bajas en comparación con otras áreas de bosques (Ceddia et al., 2015;

Los Marrones: Descendientes de esclavos africanos que huyeron de las plantaciones forzadas de trabajo colonial holandesas en Surinam y establecieron comunidades independientes en las selvas interiores.

Han mantenido una identidad distintiva basada en sus orígenes de África Occidental.

Schleicher et al., 2017; Jusys, T. 2018). Además, en promedio, estos territorios en la cuenca del Amazonas tienen una mayor densidad de carbono por hectárea, lo cual se debe en parte a que su vegetación está en mejores condiciones (Walker et al., 2020). Por lo tanto, los datos muestran que las comunidades que habitan en los bosques de los países amazónicos, en general, tienen una fuerte preocupación por mantener los bosques en pie y son guardianes de la conservación, desempeñándose en la primera línea de la protección de la selva tropical.

La bioeconomía, las empresas de conservación y otros usos sostenibles de los recursos naturales ofrecen grandes promesas para avanzar en las visiones de desarrollo de los pueblos indígenas y otras comunidades dependientes de los bosques, que buscan mantener el bosque y conservar la biodiversidad. Un estudio reciente encontró que la preservación de la selva tropical, la promoción de cadenas de valor sostenibles y la comercialización de productos regionales podrían tener un valor de más de ocho mil millones de dólares estadounidenses por año, sólo en Brasil. Al mismo tiempo, el sector privado está mostrando un interés creciente en la obtención y comercialización de productos y servicios provenientes del bosque amazónico.

Por ejemplo, la demanda de "superalimentos" como camu-camu, açai/wasai, bacaba, cupuaçcu, aguaje/moriche, sacha inchi y cocona está creciendo exponencialmente y ofrece la promesa de transformar la selva tropical amazónica en un centro de producción sostenible, al tiempo que brinda beneficios económicos transformadores a los pueblos indígenas y los Marrones. El crecimiento de las finanzas de conservación también es parte de este movimiento global más amplio que cree que reconocer el valor económico de la naturaleza e incorporarlo en la toma de decisiones económicas conducirá a mejores resultados ambientales.

USAID tiene un interés especial en aumentar la conciencia y participación del sector privado, así como profundizar la participación de actores privados, prácticas comerciales e inversiones para maximizar los beneficios tanto para el medio ambiente como para el desarrollo socioeconómico de las comunidades amazónicas. Las asociaciones con el sector privado pueden ayudar a abordar muchas de las limitaciones del mercado en estos enfoques de desarrollo, garantizando la sostenibilidad y creando un valor económico más transformador para las comunidades marginadas y dependientes de los bosques. Para escalar con éxito esta oportunidad liderada por el mercado para promover la conservación amazónica, las aproximaciones de bioeconomía y empresas de conservación deberán centrarse tanto en la comunidad como en la demanda.

Además, se requerirá que estos esfuerzos incorporen elementos más completos de manejo forestal mejorado, gobernanza, educación, agroforestería y restauración del paisaje para garantizar un impacto significativo.

Además de la bioeconomía y las empresas de conservación, existe utilidad y un interés creciente en fortalecer las capacidades locales para gestionar instrumentos de financiamiento climático como una opción para reducir la deforestación y degradación, así como para gestionar los "flujos" de carbono (reducciones de emisiones) y las "existencias" (carbono almacenado en la naturaleza) asociados con territorios indígenas y otras prácticas tradicionales de uso de la tierra.

Principalmente, hay una oportunidad para ayudar a las organizaciones y comunidades indígenas o Marrones a mejorar su comprensión de cómo funcionan los instrumentos de financiamiento climático existentes y emergentes, incluidos sus beneficios y compensaciones para sus territorios y medios de vida. La educación complementaria en forma de capacitación específica para pequeñas empresas, educación financiera, contabilidad, gestión de capital de trabajo, emprendimiento, inversión y apoyo legal, puede ayudar a las comunidades marginadas de la Amazonía a proteger y defender mejor sus derechos económicos y territoriales.

OBJETIVOS PRELIMINARES:

Guiado por nuestras prioridades de protección ambiental y acción climática de USAID, este proyecto busca asociarse con grupos indígenas y/o Marrones específicos en la Amazonía para buscar un desarrollo comunitario inclusivo a través de actividades comerciales que sean ambiental y económicamente sostenibles y respetuosas con sus derechos y cultura. Estas empresas transformadoras de conservación y modelos de bioeconomía proporcionarán a estas comunidades beneficios económicos y promoverán la conservación regional de los recursos naturales en la Amazonía mediante la protección forestal, prácticas sostenibles, fortalecimiento de la gobernanza local y actividades asociadas.

Para lograr este objetivo, USAID/AREP trabajará hacia los siguientes objetivos:

Empresas de Conservación: Actividades comerciales que generan beneficios económicos y sociales de forma que contribuyen a alcanzar los objetivos de conservación. La hipótesis es que, si aumentan los ingresos, ello proporciona la motivación y la capacidad para interrumpir las actividades insostenibles, lo que se traduce en una reducción de las amenazas a la biodiversidad.

Bioeconomía: Impulsar las oportunidades económicas y tratar de capitalizar y preservar la rica diversidad social, cultural y biológica de la Amazonia, valorando los conocimientos y modos de vida de las poblaciones tradicionales y garantizando un reparto justo de los beneficios.

Componente 1 - (85%) Apoyo a grupos indígenas y/o Marrones específicos en la Amazonía para mantener viva la selva a través de empresas de conservación:

Esta actividad apoyará a grupos indígenas y Marrones seleccionados en la Amazonía en su búsqueda de actividades positivas para la naturaleza que generen mayores beneficios económicos mediante la gestión sostenible de los recursos naturales, al tiempo que mantengan servicios ecosistémicos críticos como la conservación de la biodiversidad y la captura de carbono. Esta actividad también mejorará la gestión comunitaria de los recursos naturales para mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y fortalecer la resiliencia en comunidades indígenas y otras comunidades marginadas en la Amazonía.

Esta actividad tiene la intención de respaldar empresas de conservación con productos de buen mercado, como productos forestales no madereros de alto valor (PFNM), actividades pesqueras y ecoturismo, etc., para ayudar a estas comunidades a producir bienes y servicios que generen ingresos y motiven y faciliten comportamientos de conservación que contribuyan a la conservación de la biodiversidad o mejoren sus bosques degradados (agroforestería y restauración). Existe un interés creciente entre los consumidores y el sector privado en productos y servicios de los pueblos indígenas y comunidades Maroon en toda la Amazonía. Las empresas sostenibles de conservación, como el comercio de PFNM de alto valor o el turismo, por ejemplo, pueden generar ingresos de manera que se alinean estrechamente con la visión de desarrollo a largo plazo de las comunidades al mismo tiempo que conservan recursos preciosos. Como mínimo, la actividad asegurará que antes de iniciar o escalar cualquier empresa de conservación, se realice un estudio de prefactibilidad, si aún no se ha realizado, que incluya a) un análisis de mercado, b) un plan de negocios; c) un inventario del recurso y d) y una evaluación del posible nivel de explotación, entre otros.

A pesar de este vasto potencial, las empresas de conservación enfrentan obstáculos para ser rentables, escalar y producir de manera sostenible. Aunque las iniciativas económicas de los grupos indígenas y otras comunidades dependientes de los bosques pueden estar en diferentes etapas de desarrollo, es probable que la mayoría requiera mejorar sus operaciones y competitividad a través de capacitación, asistencia técnica, recursos y conexiones. En esta actividad, la capacitación

Productos Forestales No Madereros (PFNM): Cualquier producto que no sea madera y que se produzca naturalmente en los bosques y pueda ser cosechado para uso humano sin cortar árboles. Estos productos no matan toda la planta, sino que utilizan partes de ella (frutas, semillas, aceites, resinas, hojas, etc.), que pueden ser cosechadas de manera sostenible sin superar la tasa de renovación (rendimientos/reproducción/crecimiento).

complementaria en diferentes aspectos debería incluir tanto aspectos de gestión territorial y de recursos naturales como aspectos más orientados a los negocios, como desarrollo de productos, desarrollo de servicios, productividad, calidad de bienes, marketing, branding, comunicaciones, valor agregado, transformación, logística, aspectos legales, organizativos, contables, gestión financiera, negociación, facilitación del acceso al crédito, etc.

También se espera que el proyecto identifique y asegure nuevos compradores del sector privado de productos y servicios social y ambientalmente responsables, pero también cree vínculos comerciales involucrando a proveedores, procesadores, transportistas, inversionistas, distribuidores, proveedores de certificación y otros que podrían aumentar las ventas e ingresos de las empresas de conservación. Por lo tanto, desarrollar la capacidad de los grupos indígenas y Marrones para participar de manera sostenible y asociarse con el sector privado es crucial. En muchos casos, las empresas de conservación necesitarán el desarrollo de soluciones técnicas para mejorar su producción, inventarios, calidad, empaque, transporte u otros. Esta actividad debería promover tanto la innovación como los métodos indígenas de conservación ambiental, al tiempo que brinda asistencia para aumentar los ingresos, activos, habilidades y productividad de las empresas indígenas y permite que estos grupos marginados participen plenamente en la economía. Cuando sea aplicable, la actividad debería buscar facilitar el acceso de las empresas indígenas a créditos confiables y competitivos.

Se espera que esta actividad respalde los objetivos de la bioeconomía y busque impactar positivamente el bienestar económico, social y cultural de las comunidades/organizaciones indígenas y Marrones en general.