21 October 2008
The governments of the United States and Peru have reached an agreement to reduce Peru’s debt payments in exchange for protecting Peru’s tropical forests.
On October 20, 2008, the U.S. Office of the Spokesman of the Bureau of Public Affairs announced that the governments of the United States and Peru have reached an agreement to reduce Peru’s debt payments in exchange for protecting Peru’s tropical forest. Under this agreement, US$25 million will be put toward conserving Peru's rainforests.
The agreement compliments an existing "debt-for-nature" program under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA). It also compliments a 1997 debt swap under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative, as well as the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.
This new agreement became the fourteenth TFCA agreement between the United States and a developing country. Previous beneficiaries of this type of agreements are Bangladesh, Belize, Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Panama (two agreements), Paraguay, Philippines, and Peru with two agreements including this new one. The total amount generated by these "debt-for-nature" programs is more than US$188 million.
Source
Debt-for-Nature Agreement to Conserve Peru’s Tropical Forests, Office of the Spokesman, October 20, 2008 (U.S. Department of State website)