{ "id": "RL31286", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL31286", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 584309, "date": "2018-07-24", "retrieved": "2018-08-29T15:12:47.065232", "title": "Debt-for-Nature Initiatives and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA): Status and Implementation", "summary": "In the late 1980s, extensive foreign debt and degraded natural resources in developing nations led to the creation of debt-for-nature initiatives that reduced debt obligations, allowed for debt repayments in local currency as opposed to hard currency, and generated funds for the environment. These initiatives, called debt-for-nature swaps typically involved restructuring, reducing, or buying a portion of a developing country\u2019s outstanding debt, with a percentage of proceeds (in local currency) being used to support conservation programs within the debtor country. Most early transactions involved debt owed to commercial banks and were administered by nongovernmental conservation organizations and referred to as three-party transactions. Other debt-for-nature initiatives involved official (public) debt and were administered by creditor governments directly with debtor governments (termed bilateral transactions).\nIn the early 1990s, the United States initiated a program called the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (EAI), which involved debt-for-nature transactions. The United States restructured, and in one case sold, debt equivalent to a face value of over $1 billion owed by Latin American countries; these transactions were authorized by Congress as part of the EAI, which broadened the scope of debt transactions to include a number of social goals. Nearly $177 million in local currency for environmental, natural resource, health protection, and child development projects within debtor countries was generated from these transactions. \nThe model for debt-for-nature transactions, outlined in the EAI, was used in the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA; P.L. 105-214; 22 U.S.C. 2431) to include countries around the world with tropical forests. Under this program, debt can be restructured in eligible countries and funds generated from the transactions are used to support programs to conserve tropical forests within the debtor country. TFCA authorizes the use of debt swaps, debt restructuring, and debt buybacks to generate conservation funds. Under these agreements, the existing debt agreement is canceled and a new one is created; a Tropical Forest Agreement is created and interest payments for the principal of the loan are deposited in local currency equivalents in a Tropical Forest Fund; and the money in the fund is given in the form of grants to local conservation groups or the debtor government to conduct conservation activities for tropical forests. \nEligible conservation projects include (1) the establishment, maintenance, and restoration of parks, protected reserves, and natural areas, and the plant and animal life within them; (2) training programs to increase the capacity of personnel to manage parks; (3) development and support for communities residing near or within tropical forests; (4) development of sustainable ecosystem and land management systems; and (5) research to identify the medicinal uses of tropical forest plants and their products. Since 1998, $233.4 million has been used under TFCA to restructure loan agreements in 14 countries (20 transactions), and over $339.4 million will be generated for tropical forest conservation at the conclusion of these agreements. TFCA was authorized to receive appropriations through FY2007, but no funds have been appropriated for the program since FY2014. TFCA is being considered for reauthorization in the 115th Congress in S. 1023. This bill would expand the purpose of TFCA to include coral reefs and authorize $20 million in appropriations annually from FY2018 to FY2021, among other things.\nDebt-for-nature transactions generally are viewed as a success by conservation organizations and debtor governments because of the funds generated for conservation efforts. Debt-for-nature transactions under TFCA have stopped in recent years. Some observers suggest that this is due to lack of appropriations to support TFCA and competing debt-relief programs, such as the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31286", "sha1": "72a484105f2e6d0ac2d112b1c36b50fb750c6f2c", "filename": "files/20180724_RL31286_72a484105f2e6d0ac2d112b1c36b50fb750c6f2c.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=RL/html/RL31286_files&id=/1.png": "files/20180724_RL31286_images_bf3c91ea22a541cebbbf1e84e5c25075149f7aa0.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=RL/html/RL31286_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180724_RL31286_images_5833eae3fc51bd4184463a965b49ff0dcc5a0ed9.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=RL/html/RL31286_files&id=/2.png": "files/20180724_RL31286_images_04675043c48a4fbec01c0949d0221d0173922477.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31286", "sha1": "3f46df1ef82f5224298e865ec0c9039b44adaf72", "filename": "files/20180724_RL31286_3f46df1ef82f5224298e865ec0c9039b44adaf72.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4815, "name": "International Environmental Policy" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 456539, "date": "2016-10-17", "retrieved": "2016-11-28T21:21:58.619184", "title": "Debt-for-Nature Initiatives and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA): Status and Implementation", "summary": "In the late 1980s, extensive foreign debt and degraded natural resources in developing nations led to the creation of debt-for-nature initiatives that reduced debt obligations, allowed for debt repayments in local currency as opposed to hard currency, and generated funds for the environment. These initiatives, called debt-for-nature swaps (hereinafter referred to as debt-for-nature transactions) typically involved restructuring, reducing, or buying a portion of a developing country\u2019s outstanding debt, with a percentage of proceeds (in local currency) being used to support conservation programs within the debtor country. Most early transactions involved debt owed to commercial banks and were administered by nongovernmental conservation organizations and referred to as three-party transactions. Since 1987, three-party transactions involving countries all over the world have generated more than an estimated $167 million in local currency for conservation projects. Other debt-for-nature initiatives involved official (public) debt and were administered by creditor governments directly with debtor governments (termed bilateral transactions).\nIn the early 1990s, the United States initiated a program called the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (EAI), which involved debt-for-nature transactions. The United States restructured, and in one case sold, debt equivalent to a face value of over $1 billion owed by Latin American countries; these transactions were authorized by Congress as part of the EAI, which broadened the scope of debt transactions to include a number of social goals. Nearly $177 million in local currency for environmental, natural resource, health protection, and child development projects within debtor countries was generated from these transactions. The model for debt-for-nature transactions, outlined in the EAI, was used in the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA; P.L. 105-214; 22 U.S.C. 2431) to include countries around the world with tropical forests. Under this program, debt can be restructured in eligible countries and funds generated from the transactions are used to support programs to conserve tropical forests within the debtor country.\nSince 1998, $233.4 million has been used under the TFCA to restructure loan agreements in 14 countries (20 transactions), and over $339 million will be generated for tropical forest conservation at the conclusion of these agreements. The TFCA was authorized to receive appropriations through FY2007, but no funds have been appropriated for the program since FY2015 and no new deals are anticipated. The TFCA is being considered for reauthorization in the 114th Congress (S. 566). \nDebt-for-nature transactions generally are viewed as a success by conservation organizations and debtor governments because of the funds generated for conservation efforts. The appeal of debt-for-nature transactions has been tempered in recent years, however, by higher debt prices on secondary markets and fewer or no appropriations. As a result, fewer transactions have taken place. This report provides a description of debt-for-nature transactions and a summary of the TFCA.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31286", "sha1": "06515295083ea500ab03faadfb50e21b4d04ee2f", "filename": "files/20161017_RL31286_06515295083ea500ab03faadfb50e21b4d04ee2f.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31286", "sha1": "f32018ae2b04758a2ce3f9f42f85e741f22dc813", "filename": "files/20161017_RL31286_f32018ae2b04758a2ce3f9f42f85e741f22dc813.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4815, "name": "International Environmental Policy" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 357559, "date": "2010-03-30", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T01:47:39.286211", "title": "Debt-for-Nature Initiatives and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act: Status and Implementation", "summary": "In the late 1980s, extensive foreign debt and degraded natural resources in developing nations led to the creation of debt-for-nature initiatives that reduced debt obligations, allowed for debt repayments in local currency as opposed to hard currency, and generated funds for the environment. These initiatives, called debt-for-nature swaps, typically involved restructuring, reducing, or buying a portion of a developing country\u2019s outstanding debt, with a percentage of proceeds (in local currency) being used to support conservation programs within the debtor country. Most early transactions involved debt owed to commercial banks and were administered by nongovernmental conservation organizations and referred to as three-party swaps. Since 1987, three-party transactions have generated more than an estimated $140 million in local currency for conservation projects, as a result of the purchase of approximately $170 million in debt (face value) for approximately $49 million. Other debt-for-nature initiatives involved official (public) debt and were administered by creditor governments directly with debtor governments (termed bilateral swaps).\nIn the early 1990s, the United States restructured, and in one case sold, debt equivalent to a face value of nearly $1 billion owed by Latin American countries; these transactions were authorized by Congress as part of the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (EAI), which broadened the scope of debt swaps to include a number of social goals. Nearly $178 million in local currency for environmental, natural resource, health protection, and child development projects within debtor countries was generated from these swaps. The model for debt-for-nature initiatives, outlined in the EAI, was expanded in the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) to include countries around the world with tropical forests. Under this program, debt can be restructured in eligible countries, and funds generated from the transactions are used to support programs to conserve tropical forests within the debtor country.\nSince 1998, $124.8 million has been used under the TFCA to restructure loan agreements in 13 countries (15 transactions), and nearly $218.4 million in local currency will be generated in the next 12-26 years for tropical forest conservation projects. The TFCA is authorized to receive appropriations through FY2007. The TFCA is being considered for reauthorization in the 111th Congress.\nDebt-for-nature transactions are generally viewed as a success by conservation organizations and debtor governments because of the funds generated for conservation efforts. The appeal of debt-for-nature transactions has been tempered in recent years, however, by higher debt prices on secondary markets and lower appropriations. As a result, fewer transactions have taken place. This report provides a description of debt-for-nature transactions and a summary of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31286", "sha1": "9e292b50703ba69391d72c5027fd508bb03018ad", "filename": "files/20100330_RL31286_9e292b50703ba69391d72c5027fd508bb03018ad.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31286", "sha1": "20fd0f27cfd6665a7fab75ed76617378222c80df", "filename": "files/20100330_RL31286_20fd0f27cfd6665a7fab75ed76617378222c80df.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc811610/", "id": "RL31286_2008Mar20", "date": "2008-03-20", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Debt-for-Nature Initiatives and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act: Status and Implementation", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080320_RL31286_376d36b75ba618d3c8a9865c2a2d5ea6aeebfb60.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080320_RL31286_376d36b75ba618d3c8a9865c2a2d5ea6aeebfb60.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806003/", "id": "RL31286_2007Oct22", "date": "2007-10-22", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Debt-for-Nature Initiatives and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act: Status and Implementation", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20071022_RL31286_8ac475737abac93ae09e03e1ab33d91ec96e182b.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20071022_RL31286_8ac475737abac93ae09e03e1ab33d91ec96e182b.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810052/", "id": "RL31286_2006Oct11", "date": "2006-10-11", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Debt-for-Nature Initiatives and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act: Status and Implementation", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20061011_RL31286_797029eff6389212602ef3cac6b8b77ec1d940c8.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20061011_RL31286_797029eff6389212602ef3cac6b8b77ec1d940c8.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815837/", "id": "RL31286_2004Sep29", "date": "2004-09-29", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Debt-for-Nature Initiatives and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act: Status and Implementation", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20040929_RL31286_07d76abb50cfa64007fd39e99aff66f17148048a.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20040929_RL31286_07d76abb50cfa64007fd39e99aff66f17148048a.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810232/", "id": "RL31286_2004Jul12", "date": "2004-07-12", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Debt-for-Nature Initiatives and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act: Status and Implementation", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20040712_RL31286_ba807fb2872a44c0d08f1943981c8675fc429f5c.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20040712_RL31286_ba807fb2872a44c0d08f1943981c8675fc429f5c.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations", "Economic Policy", "Energy Policy" ] }