CONTEXTUALIZATION

It is a fact that 97% of the Brazilian state of Amazonas is covered by forest, and almost half of the state’s surface area is under some kind of protection category. However, despite the rate of absolute deforestation in Amazonas being one of the lowest in Brazil, it is important to pay attention to the advancing agricultural frontier that is moving towards the forest and illegal timber operations, which has been observed in southern Amazonas, a region that is part of the “arc of deforestation”.

Creating a protected area (PA) does not guarantee environmental conservation by itself; several other initiatives, such as management, law enforcement and, especially, appreciation of environmental assets, are necessary for its maintenance to be attractive. It is important to understand that the lack sustainable economic alternatives makes cutting down the forest a strategy to provide the region with an income.

The Forest Assistance Programme (PBF) is a public policy in the state of Amazonas introduced in 2007 and, since 2008, has been implemented by the Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS), which rewards the traditional peoples that follow the formal commitment of zero deforestation. 

PBF includes four components: income, association, family and society. The PBF component income is directed towards developing sustainable productive arrangements, by means of supporting small businesses. The PBF component association aims to strengthen the role of resident associations and train them to manage collective enterprises. The PBF component family is a direct monthly payment of R$ 50.00 to mothers of families living on the river in the PAs. The family receiving this benefit has the responsibility of not creating new crop growing spaces in areas of primary forest, keeping their children in school and participating in associations and training workshops on climate change and environmental services. Finally, the society component involves investments in education, health, communication and transport, in accordance with the local population’s needs.

THE PROJECT

The aim of the project was to support the implementation of PBF’s actions in the income and association components. That was achieved by developing sustainable economic activities in order to generate income and improve the quality of life for the traditional peoples living in the forest and to strengthen the role of resident associations as well as to improve the preparation of the planning and management of collective enterprises. The Amazon Fund’s financial support to PBF was distributed as follows: 85% to the PBF income component and 15% to the PBF association component.

The implementation of 2,424 small-scale projects were supported between 2010 and 2015 in order to generate income in 16 PAs, which were mainly projects related to the productive chains of pirarucu, açaí, Brazil nuts, cocoa, vegetable oils, processed timber, handicraft and community-based tourism. The project also supported agroforestry, lake management, aviculture and dining establishments.

The support from the PBF component association resulted in actions being implemented to strengthen community organizations in the 16 PAs covered by PBF, with 14 “parent associations” (federations of community associations from each PA) that received necessary investments to their operational structure, as well as resources required to fund their activities.

INTERVENTION LOGIC

The project fits within the “sustainable production” (1) and “land-use planning” (3) components from the logical framework of the Amazon Fund. Their outcomes, which defined the immediate impacts that the project sought to achieve, were as follows: “identified and developed economic activities for sustainable use of the forest and biodiversity in the state PAs in Amazonas” (1.1); “chains of agroforestry and biodiversity products with expanded added value in the state PAs of Amazonas” (1.2); and “strengthened social organizations in the state PAs covered by the Forest Assistance Programme (PBF) in the state of Amazonas” (3.2).

The project’s intervention strategy consisted of stimulating an economy based on outputs derived from sustainable forest management, such as a cost-effective alternative to deforestation, which results from supporting economic activities; training entrepreneurs; organizing the community groups; and training leaderships. One of the project’s striking features is that its activities were developed in sustainable use PAs, in which it is necessary to reconcile nature conservation with a sustainable use of the portion of natural resources used by populations that inhabit that area. Generating income through sustainable productive activities means that these populations do not destroy the forest, while strengthening their associative organizations allows them to plan and execute these defined productive activities collectively and empowers communities in their relationship with the various public offices, thereby improving the spatial management of these PAs. All that helps move towards the Amazon Fund’s main objective: to reduce deforestation with sustainable development.

Click on the following image to view its objectives tree, that is, how the project's outputs and linked to the expected outcomes and impact. 

ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED

As of 2015, support from the PBF income component reached 574 communities in 16 state PAs in the state of Amazonas, covering an area of 10.8 million hectares, through 2,424 income-generating projects. The main productive chains and activities supported by the project were the following: 

a. Pirarucu – the productive chain of managing pirarucu fishing is traditional in the Amazon. The following supported activities are worth highlighting: construction of 27 floating structures, which are used for storage and
logistical support, acquisition of 63 vessels (predominantly small boats or canoes), 24 kits (fishing tackle) and four microtractors to transport the fish on land. There were also two seminars held regarding pirarucu management, which involved the supported producers, academics, licensing institutions and also technical assistance and other stakeholders.

b. Açaí – among the highlighted investments in this activity were the acquisition of 55 fruit pulpers and 130 machines to process the fruit, as well as the construction of 11 processing houses.

c. Brazil nuts – the main investments made in this chain were five training courses involving 148 farmers, the construction of three storage units and 16 community dryers as well as the acquisition of equipment for
industrial processing.

d. Handicrafts – support from PBF for handicrafts began at the Rio Negro, Mamirauá and Amanã Sustainable Development Reserves (RDS), with ten courses being held to improve the quality of handicraft products, natural coloring techniques and pricing education, among other aspects, which resulted in 288 people receiving training. Seven facilities were built to house the handicraft activities and the supported handicraft producers were
encouraged to attend 21 regional and national events and fairs.

e. Cocoa – supporting the cocoa productive chain took the form of purchasing 21 cocoa dryers for the community and organizing 11 training courses for 280 people. In 2014, the Rio Madeira region was hit by record flooding, with 90% of the families in the Rio Madeira RDS being affected, which is one of the largest cocoa producers in the area. In order to anticipate possible impacts arising from future flooding, in 2015, the
project promoted awareness raising and training initiatives for families on topics such as living and adapting production chains.

f. Timber – the highlights of the activities performed include the development and licensing of 20 small-scale sustainable forest management plans – in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Forestry of the State of Amazonas (IDAM) –, the licensing of a ferry to transport timber on the river, 18 training courses in good forest management practices involving 270 participants, and four forest
planning and management meetings, in addition to monthly technical visits with the objective of monitoring the activity. The project involved the building of three woodwork stations to process the felled timber.

g. Oilseeds – the oilseed production chain, mainly andiroba, copaíba and murumuru, received investments with the purchase of 65 oil extraction kits (comprising augers to bore into tree trunks, collection containers,
funnels, storage barrels and machines to break/crush the seeds), in addition to six community seed dryers.

h. Diners – nine community diner were built to the benefit of 55 riverside communities in Médio Juruá. The community diners made it possible for families to acquire food while spending less money on transportation and
less time on their production activities.

i. Community-based tourism – the investment made included five community restaurants and two guesthouses being built in the Rio Negro RDS, as well as one guest house in the Timbira community and another in St. Helena do Inglês. Two pleasure canoes were also acquired, and 14 training courses for the river communities were held to provide guidance on tourism services, covering topics such as management, gastronomy, nature trails and nature education and customer service; each course involved an average of 25 participants. With the project’s support, touristic enterprises were included in the Brazilian ‘Green Passport’ campaign from the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

In relation to the PBF association component, 460 community workshops for participatory planning were held. These workshops, which were facilitated by FAS, were designed to make choices regarding investment in the communities within the programme’s three components: income, association and social. These workshops increased the local organizations’ ability to act, promoted the beneficiaries’ involvement and created a committed and efficient environment where to implement the planned activities, while respecting the wishes of the communities and the vocation of each location.

Fourteen associations were supported (“parent associations” – federations of community associations from each PA), which received an array of investment for structural actions, such as constructing or renovating their headquarters, purchasing boats-motorboats and computers, as well as funding for activities related to holding director and general meetings. The average investment made in each “parent association” was R$ 39,500 per year. In 2010, there was the establishment of regular meetings between leaders of PBF; 15 editions have been held since then, with an average of 35 leaders being present per meeting. 

INSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASPECTS

In addition to the previously established partnerships with the Secretariat of the Environment in the State of Amazonas, further partnerships were made with the Brazilian bank Bradesco and Coca-Cola Brazil to implement PBF, with FAS establishing, among other affairs, partnerships with the following institutions: Instituto Consulado da Mulher (Women’s Consulate Institute), Rainforest Alliance, Brazilian Institute for Ecological Research (IPÊ), Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (SEBRAE) – Amazonas, Amazonas Center for Technological Education  (CETAM), State Secretariat for Labor (SETRAB) – Amazonas, Amazonas State Tourism Company (AMAZONASTUR), Community-based Tourism Forum of the Lower Rio Negro, Amazonian Forum on Climate Change, Iranduba Mayor’s Office, Institute for Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Forestry of the State of Amazonas (IDAM), Amazonas State Research Support Foundation (FAPEAM) and the Institute of Environmental Protection of Amazonas (IPAAM).

With regards to the programme’s general administration, the improvement of internal control systems are worth highlighting, along with the hiring of a full-time system analyst and the training of team members in the use of new software to generate indicators and information regarding the project and PBF.

FAS has a team composed of 80 individuals, 48% of whom are women. 25 individuals of this group perform coordinator roles, with 52% of them being women.

RESULT AND IMPACT INDICATORS

The project’s activities have contributed to the results of the “sustainable production” (1) and “land-use planning” (3) components from the logical framework of the Amazon Fund.

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION COMPONENT (1)

Outcome 1.1: Identified and developed economic activities for sustainable use of the forest and biodiversity in the state PAs in Amazonas

Outcome 1.2: Chains of agroforestry and biodiversity products with expanded added value

The main indicators that were agreed upon to monitor these objectives were:

• Number of families that benefited from PBF (output indicator)

The target of the project was to help 10,000 families with the PBF benefit, as well as broaden the scope of PBF from 14 to 20 PAs. The goal of increasing the number of households that benefited from the programme was practically reached (see the table below); however, PBF only widened its reach to 16 PAs, not 20 PAs as was originally planned.    

Source: Sustainable Amazon Foundation

This PBF’s expansion of territorial scope that was smaller than anticipated ran into the same difficulty encountered by FAS in expanding the financial funding on the scale necessary to achieve such expansion. However, the project was successful in meeting 94% of the goal of reaching 10,000 families with the PBF benefit.

The table shows that, at end of the project’s term, 9,400 families were being assisted by PBF, i.e., around 40,000 people, which represents an expansion of 22% of families in relation to their baseline. Given that these families are spread over an area of more than 10 million hectares, an area larger than that of a sovereign country such as Portugal, this is a significant achievement.

• Revenue from forest-based economic and sustainable use activities – measurement of the variation in revenue from sustainable use forest and economic activities (impact indicator)

Within the PBF component income, the project gave priority to support six productive chains, in addition to eco-tourism, handicrafts and community-based commerce activities. The next table shows the progress of the annual revenue for these economic activities.

Based on the analysis of the the samet table, the revenue with sustainable productive activities developed by the communities in the 16 PAs supported by the project grew by 277% compared to 2010, which was when the project began its activities, i.e., the revenue more than tripled during this period. This is an impact indicator that demonstrates the success of the project to generate revenue for the populations residing in the PAs covered by PBF.

Below are considerations that can qualify the data in the Table below.

1. Açaí – the increase in the revenue from açaí was mainly due to the increase of its average price, as well as its integration in the list of sociobiodiversity products supported by the Food Acquisition Programme (PAA) by
   the National Supply Company (CONAB), which helped increase the number of producers involved in this activity.
2. Handicrafts – revenue from this activity was almost three times higher in 2013 than in 2014, which was due to the higher price of individual items produced that year, mainly bags and shoes, which are produced
   according to specific orders from a collection that was nationally marketed on a national basis through a partnership with the Coca-Cola Institute and ASTA Network.
3. Cocoa – 2013 saw an intensification of support for the cocoa chain, however, in 2014, there was a significant drop in production due to extreme weather events that occurred in the region, and consequently a drop in revenue.
4. Oilseeds – revenue from this product decreased in the period as a result of the drop in production following producers putting more effort into other extractive activities.

Source: Sustainable Amazon Foundation

• Average monthly income per family receiving PBF benefit

FAS estimates that there was a growth of 97% in the average monthly income of families receiving PBF benefits (see the next table). This significant increase in income cannot be exclusively attributed to the project, because external factors, such as other social projects and favorable macroeconomic conditions present during this period (increase in the price of some commodities, for example), also contributed to this result.  

* Values translated into 2015 indices as established according to the variation in the Brazilian National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. 

Source: Sustainable Amazon Foundation

• Annual deforestation of the PAs in the state of Amazonas under the Forest Assistance Programme (impact indicator)

The average annual deforestation in the PAs covered by project decreased by 69% between 2010 and 2014; this performance was more impressive that the other state PAs of sustainable use that did not benefit from PBF, whose deforestation rate reduced by 56% during the same period. This statistic signals that there was a more critical reduction in deforestation in the PAs that benefited from the project’s actions (all PAs of sustainable use) than in the other state PAs of sustainable use.

We can see in the next table that the average deforested area in PAs supported by the project is 0.005%, when compared to the total area of these PAs. Also, the average deforested area in the other state PAs (also sustainable use) in the state of Amazonas that were not supported by the project is 0.014%, which makes it possible to conclude that the deforested area of the PAs that benefited from the project’s actions was about three times less than in other state PAs of sustainable use. However, these data cannot be analyzed alone, and these favorable results should not be attributed solely or predominantly to the project, considering the territorial dimension of the PAs covered by PBF as well as the impact from the Brazilian government’s actions to reduce deforestation in the Amazon.  

Source: BNDES, based on data from INPE

LAND-USE PLANNING COMPONENT (3)

Outcome 3.2: Strengthened social organizations in state PAs covered by the Forest Assistance Programme (PBF) in the state of Amazonas

• Number of resident association meetings in the state PAs (product indicator)

460 participatory planning workshops were performed between 2010 and 2015 with resident associations, the objective being to plan actions and deliberate investments.

• Number of regular associations in the PAs covered by PBF (impact indicator)

In 2015, there were 14 duly formalized “parent associations”, with an 86% membership rate, i.e., 8,058 families associated compared with 9,413 families benefiting from PBF. 12 PAs had formalized “parent associations” at the beginning of the project. 

• Comparison of the regular associations between state PAs in Amazonas with and without PBF (impact indicator)

This indicator monitored the legal degree of formalization of the associations in PAs with and without PBF. The associations that did not receive benefits from PBF achieved a significant improvement in their legal formalization processes between 2010 and 2015 (see the next table); however, this is still way below the results achieved by the associations in PAs supported by the project. At the end of the project, 88% of associations located in the PAs receiving benefits from PBF were properly formalized, vis-à-vis 40% of community associations in other state PAs that did not receive PBF benefits.  

Source: Sustainable Amazon Foundation

LESSONS LEARNED

PBF was one of the first projects supported by the Amazon Fund and demanded a great deal of interaction between FAS’s and BNDES’s technical teams. Both organizations went through a learning process based on the diverse situations involved in the project. 

As regards to accountability, it was necessary for FAS and the beneficiaries of PBF to reassess their requirements. The challenge was to maintain BNDES’s standards and requirements while understanding the context and conditions of the beneficiaries: river populations from the countryside in Amazonas.

The project also brought with it a sense of belonging and appreciation for the collective nature of implementing and consolidating the actions, which made it possible to instigate the processes of social organization for the benefited communities. These premises are essential for empowering the associations and community leaders.

SUSTAINABILITY OF RESULTS

An important legacy of PBF was consolidating a participatory and inclusive methodology, which is based on the desires and demands of the beneficiary families and with a style of language that is accessible by the local reality, thereby ensuring that the local communities would be involved. 

Training the association leaders to manage the enterprises themselves, with emphasis on natural resource sustainability and conservation, is an initiative that helps provide the actions with continuity, which is achieved by increasing the involvement and the autonomy of riverside dwelling populations in sustainable activities.

In the medium term, it is possible to see that the associations of the PAs that benefit from PBF could become service centers for logistical support, technical assistance and financial support to its members and other partners. 

Constructing a new economic model in the Amazon is a challenge that depends on the continuity of both the actions against deforestation and the actions to promote a sustainable forest-based economy. The project was successful in terms of structuring productive chains of sociobiodiversity and activities related to handicraft, eco-tourism and community commerce, representing an important step towards ensuring the conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources in the Amazon biome. The definitive consolidation of these results and their repetition will depend on the continuation of this type of investment, especially in terms of supporting product chains in the forest and on the strengthening of roles of entrepreneurs and the community-based associations, so as to obtain growth and integrate them with the most dynamic sectors of the economy.