The AFRP System of Management comprises the following bodies:

• Steering Committee

  The purpose of the Steering Committee is to establish the norms, rules, principles and policies that will govern the management and operations of the AFRP, as well as other specific functions set out in the AFRP Protocol. The Committee is presently made up of the following signatory organizations:

  The Nature Conservancy - TNC (COORDENADOR)

  Associação Mico Leão Dourado - AMLD

  Instituto de Estudos Ambientais - MATER NATURA

  Associação para Preservação do Meio Ambiente e da Vida - APREMAVI

  Associação para a Proteção da Mata Atlântica do Nordeste - AMANE

  Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica - SOSMA

  Instituto Floresta Viva - IFV

  Instituto Terra de Proteção Ambiental - ITPA

  Laboratório de Ecologia e Restauração Florestal - LERF

  Rede de ONGs da Mata Atlântica - RMA

  Companhia Vale do Rio Doce - VALE

  Secretaria Estadual do Meio Ambiente - RS

  Secretaria do Meio Ambiente do Estado da Bahia - BA

  Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Hídricos - PR

  Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos - ES

  Secretaria do Meio Ambiente do Estado de São Paulo - SMA/SP

• Executive Office

  The principal function of the Executive Office is to coordinate, supervise and provide technical and logistical support to all the activities carried out by the AFRP, as well as other specific activities set out in the AFRP Protocol.

  The Executive Office will be established in premises provided by one of the signatory institutions, chosen by the Steering Committee, which should combine all the logistical, administrative and institutional conditions necessary for the suitable performance of its functions. It is the responsibility of the institution that hosts the Executive Office to select and engage the services of the professionals and service providers required for the performing of its functions and duties, within the limits of the available resources and heeding the opinions of the AFRP Steering Committee.

  The Executive Office is to remain at the premises of the host institution for an indeterminate period. Any change may be determined by the Steering Committee or the host institution at any time, while respecting contractual commitments, formal arrangements and cooperation agreements, and avoiding any discontinuity of the AFRP activities in progress. The expenses incurred by the Executive Office and of supporting the activities of the Steering Committee and the Working Groups are to be met out of the resources provided by donations, partnerships and other formal arrangements, sponsorships and the products and services generated by the AFRP itself.

  The AFRP Executive Office is presently located at the Institute Friends of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve (IA-RBMA), under an agreement with the AFRP Steering Committee.

• Working Groups

  Five key areas were identified for the setting up of AFRP Working Groups, as follows:

  Fundraising Working Group, comprising: The Nature Conservancy - TNC [coordinator], the Earth Institute for Environmental Protection (Instituto Terra de Proteção Ambiental - ITPA), the BioAtlantic Institute (Instituto BioAtlântica - IBio), and Conservation International (Conservação Internacional - CI-BRASIL).

  Technical & Scientific Working Group, comprising; the Ecology & Forest Restoration Laboratory (Laboratório de Ecologia e Restauração Florestal - ESALQ-USP) [coordinator], "Instituto Terra de Proteção Ambiental - ITPA", the Movement for the Protection of Porto Seguro (Movimento de Defesa de Porto Seguro - MDPS), the Environmental Research Center of the Northeast of Brazil (Centro de Pesquisas Ambientais do Nordeste - CEPAN), VALE (Companhia Vale do Rio Doce), and the Paraná State Department of the Environment and Water Resources (SEMA-PR).

  Communication & Marketing Working Group, comprising: "Conservação Internacional - CI-BRASIL" [coordinator], The Nature Conservancy - TNC, the Institute Friends of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve (Instituto Amigos da Reserva da Biosfera da Mata Atlântica - IA-RBMA), "Instituto BioAtlântica - IBio", the Association for the Protection of the Atlantic Forest in the Northeast of Brazil (Associação para a Proteção da Mata Atlântica do Nordeste - AMANE), the SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation (Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica - SOSMA), and "Instituto Terra de Proteção Ambiental - ITPA.

  Public Policy Working Group, comprising: "Instituto Amigos da Reserva da Biosfera da Mata Atlântica - IA-RBMA" [coordinator], "Associação para a Proteção da Mata Atlântica do Nordeste - AMANE", "Instituto BioAtlântica - IBio", "Conservação Internacional - CI-BRASIL", "Instituto Terra de Proteção Ambiental - ITPA", the Living Forest Institute (Instituto Floresta Viva - IFV), "Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica - SOSMA", "Instituto iBiosfera", the Value of Nature Association (Associação Valor Natural), the Paraná State Department of the Environment and Water Resources (SEMA-PR), and the São Paulo Department of the Environment.

  Information & Knowledge Working Group, comprising: The Nature Conservancy - TNC [coordinator], "Instituto BioAtlântica - IBio", and the Society for Conservation & Geographical Information Systems (Sociedade para a Conservação e Sistemas de Informações Geográficas - SCGIS-BR).

  To participate in a WG, contact us at secretariaexecutiva@pactomataatlnatica.org.br. Your request will be forwarded to the appropriate coordinator for examination.

  The purpose of the WGs is to support the Steering Committee and the Executive Office, by examining issues at a deeper level and participating in the AFRP decision making process.

  For more information about each of the above mentioned bodies, including their specific functions, refer to the AFRP Protocol document.