UNESCO and IDESAM at RDS Uatumã visit the first supported initiative of the Amazônia project in the Central Amazon Biosphere Reserve

The UNESCO Amazon Biosphere Reserve project, supported by LVMH, aims to support sustainable practices in the territory, with special attention to guaranteeing income-generating opportunities without deforestation, by supporting initiatives that complement existing management plans and programmes for conservation and sustainable use, adaptation and mitigation measures, and restoration efforts in the Central Amazon Biosphere Reserve.

The Institute for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon (IDESAM) and UNESCO work on complementary projects within the Central Amazon Biosphere Reserve.

Inatú Amazônia is a brand with a collective management and production strategy led by 6 social organisations and with technical assistance from IDESAM. Born out of IDESAM's partnership with associations and family businesses in Amazonas, it emerged as a result of the Forest Cities Project and is a collective strategy created for the production and commercialisation of Amazonian forest products.

The initiative has already benefited at least 2,500 people, involved 2.8 million hectares of forest, 11 social organisations, 3 vegetable oil mills and 3 community management plans licensed and in operation. The associations that are part of Inatu are located in the region of Lábrea, Silves, Carauari, Apuí and the Uatumã Sustainable Development Reserve (RDS).

Each stage here is a cycle. We have various sources of income here in the reserve. There are colleagues who work in commercial fishing, but this year was a year in which almost no fishermen caught any fish. It was a very poor year for fish, the fish disappeared, I don't know if it was because of the drought that this happened.

We've been adding value to products like rosin, which had no value before we didn't have the plant here. Before, they had no value on the market. My grandparents used to harvest the pitch and it had no value. Before, a buyer would only pay 1.50 reais a kilo and today the association is paying 7.00 to 8.00 reais a kilo. So that's improved a lot, right?

Demand is increasing every year, we're receiving more raw materials and we're running out of space to store this product. So we're going to expand the plant's structure and make new investments in machinery so that we can double this production per month, as well as building a space for accommodation and a bathroom to increase the comfort and community of our employees during production.

This SAF is currently licensed and suitable for pruning the rosewood species, and new SAF plantations are being set up within the Uatumã RDS, which will guarantee the perpetuation of the species and its restoration in the biodiversity of the UC.

Marcus Biazatti, Leader of the Sustainable Production Strategic Initiative at the Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Amazon/IDESAM, says that the rescue of the rosewood species in the Uatumã RDS will take place by planting it in an Agroforestry System on approximately 50 ha of deforested areas over the next two years. These areas were previously used by family farmers and show potential for implementing SAFs.

The aim is to recover anthropised areas by rescuing forest species that can generate income for families through the sale of branches, leaves, resins, seeds and oils.