Información sobre el proyecto/actividad

This proposal envisages supporting the implementation of community forest management in the Maues State Forest, in Amazonas State, to the benefit of 17 traditional communities over a total area of 438,440 hectares. It is expected that, once this project is implemented, current pressure on forest resources will be replaced by sustainable community forest management. The main reason behind environmental degradation in the Maues region is the lack of alternative sources of income for the local population. This project thus presents the possibility of a sustainable business that could become the foundation for sustainable economic development in that region.

Overall, the project aims at contributing towards the sustainable development of the Brazilian Amazon forest through the strengthening of community forestry as means to promote the sustainable development of communities of the Maues State Forest.

More specifically, it proposes to implement a series of activities aimed at strengthening community organization, developing and implementing Community Forest Management Plans and enabling working groups to carry out an efficient administration of community enterprises. These series of activities include training in forest management, community exchanges, workshops on the importance of environmental management and joint collaboration among community groups, and capacity building sessions on how to run a community sustainable timber enterprise. With respect to market dynamics, the project will update the Market Study for Tropical Woods from Maues region carried out by IBENS in 2002 and the Business Plan prepared in 2005.

Major outputs, among others, include:

- Community organization strengthened to carry out a Community Forestry Project;
- Community Forest Management Plans prepared and approved; and
- Working group prepared for an efficient administration of the community forest enterprise.