The Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact announced the launch of AFR – the Restoration Facilitating Agency, a mechanism created with the support of Sitawi Finanças do Bem to overcome financial and institutional bottlenecks that currently limit the flow of capital to restoration projects in the biome. The announcement was made at an event in Ibirapuera Park (São Paulo) and reinforces the urgency of scaling up actions in the territory.
According to Fernando Campos, Senior Manager of Conservation and Climate Finance at Sitawi Finanças do Bem, the challenge is not the lack of money, but how to get it efficiently:
“The restoration of the Atlantic Forest does not lack capital, but rather the structure to ensure that it arrives with quality and scale. Fragmentation of projects, inadequacy of traditional credit, and institutional bottlenecks still hinder the flow of resources. AFR addresses these gaps by integrating financial and non-reimbursable instruments, in a blended finance model, with technical support and territorial intelligence, making restoration financeable and unlocking investment where the impact happens.”
AFR was created in connection with the Pact network, which brings together more than 370 organizations and has already mapped priority areas for restoration in the 17 states of the Atlantic Forest. The proposal is to combine capital from different sources with technical assistance so that projects move from the planning stage to scalability.
Rubens Benini, former coordinator of the Pact who concluded his term in April 2026, highlighted the Agency's role in coordinating with those who implement it in the field:
“"The Pact has a large network of executors and implementers of restoration. The Facilitating Agency will boost the projects, ensuring the investment reaches those who need it."”
Why does it matter?
The Atlantic Forest is a tri-national biome and one of the most threatened on the planet. Only 24% of the original coverage remains, and most of it is fragmented. Restoring the biome is strategic for water security, climate, and biodiversity. AFR is here to transform potential into restored hectares, connecting funders to qualified projects with proven execution capacity.
Next steps
The Agency begins operations focused on modeling financial arrangements, reducing risks for investors, and providing technical support to projects within the Pact network. The goal is to increase the volume and speed of resources applied to restoration, ensuring socio-environmental impact in the territories.
