ARBARO FUND

A fund contributing to rural development and combating climate change by investing in sustainable forestry.

The Fund will invest in sustainable forestry projects, combating the impact of climate change by protecting soils and sequestering carbon on the one hand, and supporting the socio-economic development in rural areas on the other. Specifically, it will invest in timber production and development of local forestry enterprises across four regional clusters, i.e. Africa, Latin America, Europe and China. More specifically, it will invest in timber production and development of local forestry enterprises.

The Fund is planned in strict compliance with stringent ecological and social standards including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. Concessions over high conservation value natural forests in tropical areas are excluded from the scope of the Fund. The Fund will support sustainable forestry in several countries where levels of deforestation and forest degradation remain high, and it offers important socio-economic, environmental and climate action benefits, including improved greenhouse gas sequestration, soil protection and strengthening of supply of a range of raw materials. It is estimated that full implementation of the Fund will lead to the sequestration of over 25m tCO2 and the creation of more than 15 000 jobs throughout the supply chain.

The Bank will require the promoter to ensure that implementation of the project will be done in accordance with the Bank's Guide to Procurement.