From billion-dollar national pledges to multi-billion global initiatives, vast sums have been committed to protecting the Amazon. Yet too often, little of international funding ends up reaching the local organizations doing the work on the ground.

Across the region, cooperatives, community groups, Indigenous-led enterprises, and small businesses are restoring degraded land and building sustainable livelihoods. Yet many remain locked out of traditional financing due to complex application processes, rigid requirements, and systems designed for far larger institutions.

Fundo Flora is designed to change that. 

Announced for the first time at Global Citizen Festival: Amazônia, the fund is designed to get flexible financing directly in the hands of local restoration champions. Now, it is moving from promise to practice, with its first cohort of projects selected and funding beginning to flow.

The Commitment: What Was Announced 

On November 1, 2025, Global Citizen Festival: Amazônia took place in Belém, Brazil, Global Citizen’s first-ever music festival in Latin America and the culmination of the year-long Protect the Amazon campaign. The campaign secured more than $1 billion in commitments to safeguard the Amazon and the communities who call it home, driven by 4.4 million actions from Global Citizens worldwide.

Among the pledges announced that night was the launch of Fundo Flora, created by WRI Brasil and managed in partnership with Sitawi Finance for Good.

Fundo Flora is building a new model for restoration finance — one that finds, screens, finances, and monitors locally led organizations working to restore degraded farms and forests. Its goal is to direct $10 million to restoration champions in Pará State by the end of 2026, with $4.9 million already secured at launch by partners including the Bezos Earth Fund, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and the AKO Foundation.

Why Local Organizations? 

Fundo Flora’s approach is grounded in evidence about what drives effective restoration best: local leadership.

Organizations rooted in the communities they serve can be far more effective than non-local counterparts. That’s because they understand the land, the ecosystems, and the social dynamics needed to deliver lasting results better than anyone else. Still, these organizations often receive the smallest slice of financing available, slowing down progress. 

The fund prioritizes organizations led by Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant communities, women, and young people, groups that are most often excluded from traditional financing despite being at the forefront of restoration efforts. It connects them with grants and low-interest loans ranging from $30,000 to $500,000, as well as technical support and a network of peers.

The fund is focused on Pará State, where the announcement took place and which has committed to restore 5.6 million hectares of native vegetation by 2030, a goal which depends on working with strong local partners. 

The model builds on WRI’s track record through TerraFund, which has already connected $60 million to more than 200 local organizations across Africa, India, and Latin America. In Brazil, implementation is supported by Sitawi Finance for Good, which has backed more than 3,000 initiatives.

What Now? The First Cohort Selected

Fundo Flora’s first call for proposals launched in June 2025, identifying a pipeline of locally rooted organizations across Pará State. Following a rigorous selection process, the fund has now chosen its first cohort.

Ten projects — mobilizing 26 cooperatives, associations, and enterprises — have been selected for investment. Together, they represent a $3.4 million commitment over six years. These projects are expected to restore more than 1,500 hectares of degraded land, regenerate more than 1 million trees, create over 210 jobs, and benefit more than 4,000 people.

The cohort reflects the diversity of approaches needed to restore the Amazon at scale. Some projects focus on assisted natural regeneration, protecting forests from further degradation. Others are building agroforestry systems rich in native species, while still others are strengthening seed collection and distribution networks for rare plants. Many are also connecting restoration directly to economic opportunity. Sixty percent of supported organizations are engaged in bioeconomy value chains, adding value to native crops such as Brazil nut, açaí, cacao, andiroba, and cupuaçu, demonstrating that forest protection and income generation can go hand in hand.

An additional four organizations have been selected for an investment-readiness program, helping them strengthen their financial and operational capacity and prepare for future funding rounds.

Accountability Built In

Fundo Flora’s model is designed to ensure transparency and measurable impact. Projects are selected through a rigorous vetting process via the TerraMatch, a WRI platform that connects local land restoration champions with funders. 

Selected projects are then monitored over six years using WRI’s framework, which combines field data with AI-backed satellite analysis. In partnership with Meta, the fund is adapting a model capable of counting individual trees from space as early as two years after planting, dramatically improving the scale, cost, and precision of verification.

That’s crucial because funding is performance-based: payments are released only when agreed milestones are met. This approach not only ensures accountability, but also helps generate credible data that local organizations can use to attract additional investment.

A Second Call and a Bigger Vision

With its first cohort underway, Fundo Flora has opened a second call for proposals focused on high-quality restoration projects and profitable bioeconomy businesses across Pará. The goal is to support models where forests remain both ecologically healthy and economically viable — strengthening value chains, creating jobs, and building climate resilience.

Looking ahead, Fundo Flora aims to connect more than $10 million to 60 local champions, restore over 20,000 hectares, and benefit more than 10,000 people. But its broader ambition is even greater. Fundo Flora is working to prove that investing in local leadership is the most effective way to scale restoration — and to ensure that funding reaches the communities best positioned to deliver lasting impact.