WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) applauded the finalization of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) agreement between the U.S. government and the Republic of El Salvador. This bilateral agreement will redirect approximately $20 million in concessional debt owed by El Salvador to a conservation fund over a period of 10 years.

The TFCA program was established in 1998 to offer eligible developing countries options to relieve certain official debt owed the U.S., while at the same time, generating funds to support local conservation activities for tropical forests and coral reefs. This agreement with El Salvador is the first TFCA agreement since 2014, for a total of 21 agreements with 14 countries implemented since the program was created, and the second agreement with El Salvador through the TFCA program. Through the first TFCA agreement, which entered into force in 2001, El Salvador has used conservation funding to preserve and restore tropical forests, such as mangrove ecosystems.

“Conservation of our world’s tropical forests and coral reefs helps to protect wildlife, maintain healthy ecosystems, and combat emissions that contribute to climate change,” said Senator Coons, co-chair of the International Conservation Caucus. “I’m proud to be working with Senator Portman to reauthorize TFCA and pleased that the United States and El Salvador have agreed to redirect debt to support critical conservation activities in the heart of Central America.”

“El Salvador is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. I am pleased that this conservation agreement will build off the successes of the United States’ existing TFCA agreement with El Salvador by redirecting $20 million in concessional debt to help protect and restore the country’s tropical forestlands and coral reefs,” said Senator Portman, co-chair of the International Conservation Caucus. “TFCA is a results-driven program.  I look forward to continuing to work with the Department of the Treasury and the Department of State to finalize additional TFCA agreements with other countries around the world and with my colleagues in Congress to reauthorize the program for another five years.”

With bipartisan support, the Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Program has saved millions of acres of tropical forest worldwide and helped sequester tens of millions of tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide,” said Senator Whitehouse. “The Biden administration’s new agreement with El Salvador is the first of its kind in years, and marks another step toward preserving some of the world’s extraordinary natural treasures.”

“The Tropical Forest Conservation and Coral Reef Conservation Act (TFCCA) has made the United States a world leader in using debt-for-nature swaps to protect some of the most important landscapes and seascapes in the developing world,” said Kerry Cesareo, Senior Vice President for Forests at World Wildlife Fund. “World Wildlife Fund commends the administration for reactivating this powerful tool, which has proven highly effective in securing the long-term conservation of tropical forests and other critical ecosystems while also benefiting local communities and helping to slow climate change. We also call on Congress to do the same. The House has already passed legislation to reauthorize this critically important program for an additional five years. We urge the Senate to pass it as well and ensure that the TFCCA can continue yielding its multitude of benefits for both people and nature.”

"This new agreement with El Salvador is the latest in a long line of success for the Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Act,” said Andrew Deutz, Director of Global Policy for Institutions and Conservation Finance at The Nature Conservancy. “Since its enactment over 20 years ago, the act has been vital to helping countries in the region and across the globe both reduce their national debts and conserve vital ecosystems. Restructuring this amount of debt is significant for El Salvador, one of the most environmentally degraded and deforested countries in Latin America. It will provide critical resources for conservation and reforestation that are not currently available to the country's Ministry of Environment. We commend Sen. Portman for his continued leadership on this act and El Salvador and the Treasury Department for working together to secure this important win for nature and the region.”

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