Rural areas of the municipalities of Santarém, Belterra, Aveiro and Juruti in the State of Pará, contemplating actions in: two Conservation Units (CUs): Tapajós National Forest (FLONA Tapajós) and Tapajós-Arapiuns Extractive Reserve (RESEX); five Agroextrativist Settlement Projects (PAE): Lago Grande, Santa Rita, Salé, Valha-me Deus and Balaio; four Agroextractive Settlement State Projects (PEAEX): Aruã, Vista Alegre, Mariazinha and Curumuci; and a Federal Settlement Project (PA): Moju I and II.

Description

CONTEXT

Western Pará has a history of predatory exploitation of natural resources. Its occupation occurred partly through illegal deforestation and occupation of public lands. The traditional populations, which occupy the settlements and protected areas in the region, are organized in communities ranging from thirty to two hundred families, many in remote areas, distant up to twenty hours by boat from urban centers. These populations live in poor conditions, with difficulties to guarantee their own subsistence. The average human development index (HDI) of the municipalities covered by the project is 0.585 (the national figure is 0.754).

The traditional populations, which occupy settlements, land and Conservation Units (CUs) in the region are organized in communities ranging from 30 to 200 families, many in remote areas, distant until 20h on a boat trip from urban centers, which live in situations of exclusion, risk and vulnerability, with difficulties to guarantee their own subsistence. The average human development index (HDI) of the municipalities covered by the project is 0.585 (the national figure is 0.754).

In general, a large part of the residents are beneficiaries of income distribution programs such as Bolsa Família and Bolsa Verde. Public transport, sanitation, energy and communication services are still insufficient. Most communities do not have high schools. The rural exodus mainly affects the younger segments, who end up migrating to the cities, due to lack of local opportunities for study or work. Women accumulate long hours as they work in the household, take care of the children and the elderly, and still work in the land. It is hoped that the project will contribute to transforming this situation by offering opportunities for training and income generation.

The great majority of families depend on subsistence economy, with cassava flour being their main source of income, complemented by perennial crops in the backyards, fishing, hunting and raising small animals, handicrafts, extracting rubber and oils (mainly andiroba and copaiba).

The predominant agricultural production system is still based on the practice of "cutting and burning", which is a vector of deforestation, by opening new cropping areas, and does not guarantee food security or income improvement. There are some initiatives to improve production and value added to economic activities, but agroextractivism still lacks efficient strategies that identify and potentiate productive chains and facilitate the access of products to the market.

THE PROJECT

The actions will be coordinated by CEAPS in close interaction with the representative organizations of the residents of the protected areas and settlements covered. The planned activities and investments are community-based initiatives and, for this reason, the organizations and leaderships that will be responsible for the management of each structure will be chosen by the local representatives throughout the execution of the project, and CEAPS will be responsible for offering technical advice to reduce risks in decision making.

The project is structured in five components, one of which is dedicated to management and the main components are focused on strengthening business related to sustainable value chains, community production organization and training of people in the Tapajós region.

Component 1 - Non-timber productive chains structured (38%)

This component aims to develop the productive chains of vegetable oils, meliponiculture, seeds and seedlings, to expand the scale of production, to improve the productive process and facilitate the commercialization, promoting the productive inclusion of the agroextrativists in the region.

Expected deliveries:

A vegetable oil processing unit
A honey processing unit, 200 Kits for meliponiculture producers and one register of producers
Definition of five areas of seed collection
Three units for seed storage and one commercial warehouse
Equipment for seed laboratory
Complex of five nurseries of seedlings
Technical training for the producers of these productive chains
Studies associated with productive chains

Component 2 - Active Forest Experimental Center (CEFA) increased (19%)

The Active Forest Experimental Center (CEFA) is an educational center that disseminates sustainable forest management practices, agroecology and permaculture, with an area of approximately 2,000 hectares in the Tapajós-Arapiuns RESEX, currently equipped with accommodation, spaces for educational activities for 200 people, a nursery of seedlings, a vegetable garden, a breeding unit for bees, a fish tank and several native fruit species. The center is managed by the Active Forest Intercommittee Council (CIFA), an association whithout legal personality of which CEAPS participates, composed of representatives of 14 RESEX communities.

Investments requested in this component aim to expand and diversify CEFA's demonstrative production units, so as to make it a reference space for theoretical training, and especially practice in agroecological techniques and for the generation of socio-environmental technologies that can be appropriated by the sustainable productive chains the region. In addition, CEFA is expected to expand the technical assistance and training offered by its technicians to the agroextrativists families in the area covered by the project, so as to enable the adoption of sustainable production techniques by this public.

Expected deliveries:

New demonstration units and acquisition of equipment
Technical assistance visits
Training for family farmers assisted by CEFA

Component 3 - Sustainable ventures structured and expanded (12%)

This component provides for actions to expand infrastructures for community-based tourism and strengthen handicrafts from forest raw materials, as these are activities with strong synergies.

Although it has the potential to generate employment and income in the region, tourism still needs investments in infrastructure and qualification of the services offered. Therefore, professionalization and management activities will be carried out in partnership with the Tourism and Forest Handicraft Cooperative (Cooperativa de Turismo e Artesanato da Floresta – TURIARTE), which already manages two community guesthouses, implemented with the support of CEAPS, and markets the region's handicrafts.

At each tourist pole, there is a community association representing local residents who will conduct the activities and receive the infrastructures built after training their participants to self-manage the enterprise.

The Tapajós River region was identified in the Ver-o-Pará Plan of the State Tourism Secretariat as one of the regions most favorable to the development of tourism practices that include the local community and stands out for its beaches of rivers, primary forests, trails, waterfalls, lakes. The Community Based Tourism, modality that "seeks to establish a real sense of community, in which the experiences of the place and the way of life of the population are shared with the visitors," is intended for a tourist profile that seeks, besides contact with nature, the conviviality with the traditional peoples of the Amazon.

Expected deliveries:

Two community guesthouses and six receptive poles
Three touristic inventories and three visitation plans
A craft house
Community training
Communication

Component 4 - Community management and entrepreneurship strengthened (18%)

The actions foreseen in this component are aimed at strengthening the community leaderships of the Tapajós-Arapiuns RESEX and FLONA Tapajós, mainly women and young people, in order to contribute to better management of community organizations and to increase their participation in councils, forums, working groups and networks related to the territorial management of the UCs, as well as to stimulate their articulation with the levels of government for the implementation of public policies in the region.

Expected deliveries:

Leadership training
Training of young entrepreneurs and support to micro-businesses
Specific training for the female audience

Component 5 - Project management carried out (12%)

This component is divided into administrative staff (46%), administrative expenses (39%) and computers (3%) required to manage the project.

INTERVENTION LOGIC

This project falls under the “sustainable production” (1) and "Science, Innovation and Economic Instruments" (4) component of the logical framework of the Amazon Fund.

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.

Evolution

Evolution

Date of approval	05.02.2018
Date of the contract	07.24.2018
*Disbursement period	07.23.2023

*Deadline for disbursements

approval

05.02.2018

award

07.24.2018

conclusion

Disbursement

Disbursement
	date	amount
1º disbursements	12.11.2018	R$1,763,100.00
2º disbursements	07.14.2020	R$5,637,200.00
3º disbursements	01.23.2023	R$3,111,054.41
4º disbursements	06.06.2023	R$1,981,656.19
Total amount disbursed		R$12,493,010.60

Total amount disbursed in relation to the Amazon Fund’s support

100%

ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED

The project strengthened non-timber forest product value chains, tourism, and community-based entrepreneurship in the Tapajós region, in western Pará. The implemented actions resulted in the structuring of production units, technical assistance, and community enterprises, promoting productive inclusion and the valorization of socio-biodiversity.

Component 1 – Sustainable Productive Value Chains

Actions were developed focusing on the value chains of vegetable oils, meliponiculture (stingless beekeeping), seeds, and seedlings, with particular emphasis on the implementation of the Socio-bioeconomy Ecocenter in Santarém. This center serves as a hub that brings together units for the extraction of vegetable oils and butters, copaíba oil distillation, honey processing and bottling, cold storage facilities, fruit pulp agroindustry, and the storage and processing of seeds and rubber. The Ecocenter aims to also become a service hub for socio-bioeconomy businesses.

The Ecocenter is led by the Cooperative of Agroextractivist Workers of Western Pará (ACOSPER) and is supported by local organizations, public institutions, and partner companies, with special emphasis on Natura.

In the meliponiculture chain, 186 stingless beekeepers from 16 communities and 3 Indigenous villages were registered, trained, and structurally supported through 16 technical workshops. Analyses of meliponary installations and management practices were carried out, providing technical guidance for infrastructure, equipment, and procedural improvements, with the goal of enhancing honey quality and meeting sanitary requirements. A total of 132 individual kits, 27 collective kits, and 822 sets of beehive boxes were delivered. The honey processing and bottling facility was completed and is currently undergoing the process to obtain the State Inspection Seal. The project also contributed to the regulation of the activity in Pará by supporting the development of technical standards and specific legislation.

In the seed value chain, seed collection areas were structured with a focus on andiroba, including two areas within the Tapajós National Forest (Flona Tapajós), between kilometers 67 and 72, totaling 380 hectares, with updated forest inventories carried out in partnership with the Mixed Cooperative of Flona Tapajós (COOMFLONA). Additional areas were prepared in Flona Tapajós, the Munduruku‑Taquara Indigenous Territory, and the Tapajós‑Arapiuns Extractive Reserve (RESEX). Seed houses/units were implemented for storage and processing, aiming at value addition and commercialization. These structures were installed at the Ecocenter and at the CEFA, equipped with appropriate machinery.

Regarding seedling production and the strengthening of the productive base, 10 collective nurseries, 146 hectares of Agroforestry Systems (AFS), and 8 community water supply systems were implemented, benefiting 10 communities, approximately 440 families, and more than 1,700 people.

Training activities were also conducted in forest seed collection, agroforestry seedling production, AFS management techniques, and slash‑and‑burn‑free farming practices, all linked to continuous technical assistance.

Equipment was acquired for the Forest Seed Laboratory at UFOPA, strengthening research and quality control, followed by the laboratory’s accreditation by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA).

Component 2 – Active Forest Experimental Center (CEFA)

CEFA was consolidated as a regional hub for technical assistance, training, and productive experimentation, serving smallholders from the Tapajós‑Arapiuns RESEX, Flona Tapajós, and the Lago Grande Settlement Project (PAE). This consolidation included structural renovations, installation of solar energy systems, and the acquisition and donation of productive equipment.

Demonstration units began to be implemented on beneficiary family plots, under the guidance of the CEFA technical team, covering agroforestry systems, nurseries, gardens, poultry raising, stingless beekeeping, and stream restoration. Productive equipment such as tricycles, power tillers, and brush cutters were acquired and subsequently donated to beneficiary community organizations.

A total of 2,322 technical assistance visits were carried out, along with training sessions and experience exchange visits with producers from other regions.

Component 3 – Sustainable Enterprises Structured and Expanded

Two community‑based guesthouses in the form of hammock lodges were built in Flona Tapajós and in the Tapajós‑Arapiuns RESEX. Tourism inventories and visitation plans were also developed. Noteworthy actions include training activities in tourist reception and the construction of the Urucureá Handicraft House.

Component 4 – Strengthened Community Management and Entrepreneurship

Assemblies, workshops, and meetings were held to strengthen community management, as well as women’s gatherings to promote female participation. Training activities focused on entrepreneurship within socio-biodiversity value chains were also carried out, articulated with the project’s other actions.