Sustainable Production: Safeguarding Nature to Improve the Well-Being of Local People
April 16, 2024
This month, we continue to celebrate Earth Month by honoring nature and all of the unique biodiversity and resources that the Amazon offers us. Do you know some of the most exotic, healthy, and sustainable fruits that come to us from the Amazon? From Brazil nuts to açaí berries, the forest is full of nutritious goods that are the key to improving the well-being of local families while also keeping forests intact.
Sustainable production – which we also refer to as forest-based economy or bioeconomy – means harvesting naturally growing fruits and nuts from forests that are healthy and thriving rather than exploiting monocultures of a single product that quickly depletes the forest. It means diversifying products to support a biodiverse ecosystem that is resilient and able to adapt to the changing climate as well as providing local harvesters with a steady source of income year-round with varying harvest cycles.
Support Sustainable Production to Protect Biodiversity
As an integral part of our work to prioritize a forest-based economy across the region, sustainable production also means empowering local producers and families by providing the capacity, tools, and infrastructure that support a sustainable forest-based economy, higher and more stable income, safer harvesting conditions, and improved well-being for local families. As we expand this successful economic model to more communities across the Bolivian Amazon, we have simultaneously supported the growth of local producer associations and their resilience to the impacts of climate change by helping develop local platforms like the Amazon Fruit and Climate Change Observatory.
Supporting sustainable production also greatly benefits the Amazon and its vast biodiversity by promoting the sustainable use of natural resources and reinforcing the value of keeping forests healthy and standing. In addition, the success of forest-based economies across the region demonstrates their viability as an alternative to destructive economic activities like mining and logging. A successful forest-based economy centered on sustainable production goes hand in hand with improving the well-being of local people while protecting the sustainable resources of the Amazon for generations to come.
Learn more about the benefits of building a forest-based economy here.
Over the next decade, Amazon Conservation aims to create a true forest-based, climate-resilient economy across 37 million acres of the Amazon by strengthening local communities to fully benefit from the sustainable production of forest-friendly products provided by these rich forests.
To achieve this goal, we are working on the ground alongside local Amazonian communities to optimize the sustainable production of Brazil nuts, acai berries, and other potential goods by helping add value to the products they harvest, diversifying their economic activities, and establishing climate-smart strategies that build resilience and adaptability for them and their forests.
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