The Amazon Forests and Climate Change project disseminates the first results of research that encourages the sustainable use of forest resources.

Bolivia, October 15, 2020. During 10 months, specialists from the Amazon Forests and Climate Change project met, analysed and evaluated 12 community enterprises located in Pando (Bolivia) and Madre de Dios (Peru), which take advantage of non-timber resources such as the fruits of the forest (asai, chestnuts and cocoa) and implement sustainable production systems (ecotourism, fish farming, and agro-forestry systems).

Associations and small companies engaged in the marketing of fruit face a number of challenges and issues that are being undermined by climate change. With the intention of analysing the cases and proposing solutions, the study “Management of Non-Timber Forest Resources in Bolivia and Peru” was developed, which yielded 10 lessons, and laid a solid foundation for future undertakings to have a clearer road map in order to make efficient and sustainable use of forest resources.

The Amazon Forests and Climate Change project shares the first ten lessons learned:

1. Enhancing capabilities. Families who work in the harvesting and collection of non-timber resources need to be trained to improve fruit transformation processes. Although they have knowledge of the extraction of species such as Brazil nut(castaña), asai, and cocoa, it is still necessary to strengthen their skills in order to manage the benefits they generate.
2. Bridging the gaps in planning. It is important that indigenous and farming communities have the knowledge and capacity to develop planning instruments for the management of non-timber resources. They generally depend on the support of external technicians, which represents an additional cost.
3. Improving market access. Families that are fruit producers and harvesters do not have direct access to markets. For this, they need intermediaries (who generate the link between the company and the communities) and generally set the prices and/or generate distortions so that they can be marketed.
4. Optimising prices. Enterprises are developed by indigenous and farming families and profitability calculations are rarely made. It is important to strengthen local learning so that they can make analyses of the costs of collecting a resource and the benefits obtained.
5. Incentivising equality. The participation of women in the initiatives is fundamental for the supply and transformation of resources. Operational and managerial leadership roles must be strengthened.
6. Community relations. All the ventures show reciprocal relationships with the community, which is the reference point for access to and management of resources. This also contributes to the integrated management of protected areas, indigenous territories, municipalities, native communities, among others.
7. Revaluing the forest. The sustainable use of non-timber resources allows forest value to be assessed and prevents deforestation. There is no doubt about the contribution of business ventures to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. In places where Brazil nuts are harvested, the presence of jaguars and pumas has been recorded, indicators of good forest condition.
8. Confronting and adapting to climate change. The initiatives analysed are vulnerable to climate change and there is no climate information or early warning. Families apply practices such as seed selection to become more resilient, however, this is not enough. It is essential to identify actions that increase their adaptive capacities, such as adequate water management in times of drought, for example.
9. Increased climate and economic vulnerability. Droughts and floods increase the climate vulnerability of communities, and in turn, international economic variability with respect to products also affects them. Therefore, they are exposed to external factors that affect their activities.
10. Incentivise productive diversification. The sale of castañas (Brazil nuts) can represent 50% to 70% of annual income in some communities, but it also makes them vulnerable if production is affected by climate change. It is therefore important to diversify sources of income, taking advantage of various fruits allow families to be more resilient to the effects of climate change. There are other activities with low impact on the forest that are important in diversification, such as agroforestry systems, ecotourism, and fishing.

It is important to diversify the sources of income of families working with chestnuts. Harvesting various fruits allows them to be more resilient to the negative effects of climate change.

The methodology for accessing information was crucial in the research because workshops were held with facilitating institutions that support the various enterprises. Pre-existing data were also analysed, and there was direct participation by local actors and producer families, who constitute the main source of knowledge and reflection regarding the relationship established with the forests and the dynamics of the economy, food and health.

Project Director Luis Arteaga explains that the final and detailed results will be published during the next few weeks, and have served to implement 4 pilot experiences:

• Bolivia:
  Brazil nut management in the Tacana indigenous territory
  Asaí management in subcentral Bernandino Racua  
• Peru:
  Castaña(Brazil nut) management in the native community Palma Rea
• Cocoa cultivation in agroforestry systems in the native community of Infierno

"The lessons learned are a contribution to other enterprises that work on forest management in the face of climate change, mainly for regions with potential in the use of Brazil nuts, asai, cocoa, fishing resources, and tourism, among others," said Luis Arteaga.

In this way, the quality of the products is improved, progress is made in the transformation processes and transparency is sought in the relationship with the intermediaries for access to markets. Likewise, mechanisms for the equitable distribution of the benefits generated are promoted, capacities are increased so that families can access economic credits, and at the same time monitoring systems are established to evaluate the progress of the enterprises.

It also promotes the diversification of livelihoods based on other forest resources and implements actions to reduce climate vulnerability such as: proper water management, early warning systems to detect reduction in production due to droughts, among others.

"The actions will strengthen the adaptive capacities of local enterprises to reduce their vulnerability and thus ensure that non-timber forest resources constitute an adaptation strategy to climate change based on the Amazon forest ecosystem," concludes Arteaga.

Fact: 

• The Amazon Forests and Climate Change project is implemented by the Bolivian Association for Research and Conservation of Andean-Amazonian Ecosystems (ACEAA-Bolivia), the Association for the Conservation of the Amazon Basin (ACCA-Peru) and the Amazon University of Pando (UAP-Bolivia). It is part of the "Forests, Biodiversity and Ecosystems" sector of the EUROCLIMA+ programme, implemented by the agencies Expertise France (EF) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).
• Learn more about the project here.

 About EUROCLIMA+

EUROCLIMA+ is a programme financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Federal Government of Germany through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as by the governments of France and Spain. It aims to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects in 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries by promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation, resilience, and investment. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), and UN Environment.

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