This project co-finances the multi-donor-funded National Resources Policy Project (NRPP), which in turn forms part of the G7 Pilot Programme to conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest (PPG-7), initiated by the G7 countries at the Houston Summit in 1990.

The Brazilian Amazon contains the largest extent of tropical rain forest in the world (almost 40% of the remaining tropical forest on the planet) and contributes some 20% of the river discharge into the world's oceans. While access to these natural resources was physically difficult and while rural populations were small and confined largely to riverine strips, environmental damage was relatively small. Since the initiation of the federally-funded highways programme in Amazonia in the 1960s, access to natural resources has been massively increased. Environmental legislation and controls on the exploitation of these resources have not kept pace with the improved access. Physical damage is most evident in forest clearance for agriculture and pasture, uncontrolled logging and mining operations, but more pervasive damage has been caused by selective reduction and local extinction of biological populations of timber trees, non-wood forest products, and fauna (terrestrial and aquatic).

In response to these problems, the NRPP aims to strengthen the capacity of environmental institutions to set and enforce policy for sustainable and integrated environmental management.

Management and organisational capacity of environmental agencies strengthened in four Amazon states (Amapa, Maranhao, Roraima, Tocantins).

• In 4 Amazonian states (Amapa, Maranhao, Roraima, Tocantins) governmental environmental agencies network effectively, sharing information, and participate fully in NRPP.
• Government environmental agencies in 9 Legal Amazon States equipped with training materials.
• Government environmental agencies in 4 Amazonian States: