A Green Deal for El Salvador : Forest-Based Green Infrastructure for Income and Services

This El Salvador country forest note (CFN) presents a forward-looking business case for the World Bank to invest in forest management, conservation, and restoration (FMCR) in El Salvador. The CFN demonstrates why forest resources (trees, soil, water) are important for economic development, poverty reduction, and sustainability in El Salvador, especially their importance as suppliers of public goods, such as environmental protection and ecosystem services. It explains what the factors driving forest loss in El Salvador are and the barriers that prevent forests from attaining their full potential. It outlines how FMCR interventions can take advantage of opportunities and contribute to nature-based income and services, key actions needed for achieving these goals, and how these actions may be incorporated into the World Bank's assistance programs. The document is structured as follows. The first part lays out the context of El Salvador's forests including the legal and institutional framework, incentive programs, and the country's international commitments regarding forests. The next section discusses the contributions of forests to the national economy and existing threats, challenges, and opportunities for maintaining or increasing forest-based green infrastructure, ecosystem services, and the production of timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs). The document ends with sections dedicated to a schematic description of how interventions may be packaged, a summary of key actions, and the relationship of these actions with the World Bank's engagement and existing projects