The Amazon’s vast ecosystems are home to millions of people who rely on forest products for food, fiber, and medicine. Both Bolivia and Peru have well-established legal frameworks for sustainable resource management, and provide local people with land and resource use rights through indigenous territories, timber and Brazil nut concessions, and protected areas.
Local communities are pioneering enterprises that rely on standing forests, such as harvesting Brazil nuts and açaí berries. This landscape generates 80,000 tons of Brazil nuts annually, representing up to 85 percent of global production. Some Bolivian communities derive more than 80 percent of their annual income from collecting Brazil nuts and açaí berries.
To realize the potential of these sustainable enterprises for long-term conservation of this area at scale, we are addressing resource access and land tenure issues, management and production challenges, and direct threats to forests. Right now, encroachment from illegal logging, gold mining, and agricultural expansion fragments the forest, weakening ecosystems and leading to diminished harvests.
Poor market positioning, inefficient production, and lack of business capacity and investment reduces economic stability and eventual viability for many producers. At the same time, the changing climate causes unreliable and reduced production and increases fire risk.
If unchecked, these factors will diminish the economic benefits of sustainable use and leave forests vulnerable to destructive practices that only provide short-term financial gains.
To achieve the long-term conservation of this iconic landscape, which stretches across 14 million hectares, while encouraging and enabling people to use its resources sustainably, we will provide tools, training and market connections for forest-friendly enterprises.
We will also harness legal and management tools as well as emerging technology to help communities protect their territories.
Build forest-friendly enterprises with Brazil nut and açaí harvesters and sustainable wood producers so they can diversify income, integrate climate-smart planning, build business skills and increase market access.
Scale up sustainable production by partnering with producer associations, governments, and other organizations, extending the collective reach of smaller enterprises.
Create and strengthen conservation areas that serve the dual purpose of forest protection and sustainable resource use by solidifying resource rights and land tenure.
Improve producers’ abilities to manage and protect their lands through cost-effective technology and science-based solutions.
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1012 14th Street NW · Suite 625 · Washington DC 20005 · USA
202-234-2356 / info@amazonconservation.org
