Successes and challenges of the socio-environmental movement in the Amazon RegionAcre state

Alberto Tavares - Economist London June 2 2008

Over 90 % of the world's poorest people depend on forests for livelihoods More than a billion people living within the 19 forest biodiversity hotspots 22% of all developing country forests owned by communitiesCommunity tenure will double again by 2020 to more than 700 million hectares 21 million people live in Brazilian Amazon Region ~60% of public (state) lands are in the hand of local communitiesCmmunities and Earths Biomes Forests and Livelihood

Amazon Rainforest9 countries

What are ecosystem services after all? The Forest Climate Alliance

Strategic Advice to National Policy Initiatives

Biodiversity Offsets

Carbon sequestration and storage

Soil formation and fertility

Beauty landscape

Wild species & habitat protectionPlant pollinationWatershed protection and regulationAir qualityEnvironmental Services of the Tropical Forests

Impacts of Climate Change in the Amazon Region

The Amazon Region is one of the two Brazilian Climatic Hotspots

The increase of temperature can be a s high as 8 C in some areas

Dec-Jan-FebJun-July-AugProbabilityof rainfallreduction (%)

Source: Brazilian Forest Service (2008)

Big Challenge

deforestation 2006-2050 scenarium if business as usualfonte: IPAM

Main threats in Amazon Region

The size of the problem...From 1988 to 2006:

345,000 km2 of amazon rainforest deforested only in BrazilSo Paulo state area= 248,000 km2

Federal Government ReactionReduction of Deforestation PlanSince 2002:Involvement of 11 MinistriesMain lines of action:Landscape planning;Support for economic sustainabilityGovernment controlMonitoring (technology)In December 2007Deforestation growthembargo on rural finance;Focus in the districts with highest deforestationInvolve the market consumers of commodities

Social and Political ContextDeforestation does not generate much economic welfare;Local communities present throughout the region depend on standing forest for their livelihoods. Insufficient actions to stop deforestation by the central government;REDD Emissions have gained considerable attention by the international community. Much funds have been promised but no clear framework is ready;No clear public directive on how adaptation will be woven into development policies in the region;

History of socio-environmental movement in the Amazon RegionAcre StateSustainability ProtagonistsRecognition of traditional communities as protagonists of sustainable development, in so far as they maintain natural resources and provide environmental services for the planet and humanity; and their role should be valued.

1970-1990Forest People AllianceRubber tappers and indigenous people examples

Chico Mendes and the rubber tappers movement:Empates against deforestationProtagonists of sustainable developmentInnovative Public policies

Strategies and alternatives for Sustainable Development in Amazon Region: Government (enviroment area); and NGOs (civil society)Creation and implementation of Protected AreasComunity Forestry Production Chain and Market for timber and no-timber productsSustainable Fishery Inclusion of Forest and carbon in Climate deal (Bali-2007) payment for reduction emissionsMarket transformationCapacity building of social capitalPublic and Private Polices

Public and private policies in Nacional/Regional Level

PACTO PELA VALORIZAO DA FLORESTA E PELO FIM DO DESMATAMENTO NA AMAZNIAOctober 2007

Ground-breaking initiative to establish commitment from diverse sectors of the Brazilian government and society; to propose urgent actions to end deforestation in the Brazilian

Objective: reduce deforestation rate to zero by 2015

Main GoalsEconomic value of the foresta

Recognise Legtimacy of traditional use of the forest resources (communities)

Economic incentives

How is it going?

Support of the governors of the states of the Amazon: AC, AM, MT, AP, as well as SP e MG;

Federal parliament

Civil Society

Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) Greenpeace Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV) Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amaznia (IPAM) The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Conservao Internacional (CI) Amigos da Terra - Amaznia Brasileira Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amaznia (Imazon)WWF-Brasil

Public and private policies in Nacional/Regional Level

Project: Strengthen voices for better choices

Leader: GTA - Grupo de Trabalho Amaznico (Wokgroup from Amazon)

Stakeholders: Comunities organizations (extrativists and indiginous groups) and NGOs.

Support: WWF-Brazil and IUCN

Goal: Construction of a Civil Society Agenda for Socio-environmental Public Policy of Acre state

Values of the projectInvolvement and participation of civil society actors from the start Strengthening networksClear strategy for actionStructure and process for Social Participation and good GovernanceShared learning of multi-institutional governance processes

Process 2007-2008Phase 1 - Studies on Participation policies Phase 2 - Elaboration of Agenda and Policies Phase 3 Capacity-building and support for implementation of the agreed agenda

PES is a communitys right At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.- Chico Mendes 1944 1988

Thank you!

Alberto Tavares dandetavares@bol.com.brPhone xx55 68 3244 1706

***Let me put this in context of the Extractive Reserve proposal.In the late 1980s, when deforestation in the Amazon were skyrocketing, a group of rubber tappers captured global attention when they fought to protect their lands from encroaching cattle ranchers in Acre, Brazil, culminating in the assassination of their leader Francisco Chico Mendes in 1988. In this context, Extractive reserves were proposed as a development alternative to cattle ranches, large scale timber operations, and colonization projects and advertised as a development model that could reconcile forest conservation with economic development of rainforest communities. This proposal was both based on social justice and forest conservationA way to secure land rights and a means of continued forest products extractionAlso tightly linked ERs to NTFPsThus the social and environmental experiment of ER began - as one of the first EP areas where people share usufruct rights to resources which they collectively manage one of the only EP that exists because of people and not despite of themPrototype of sustainable development and community based conservation through NTFP With this, the creation of ERs marked an unprecedented success in grassroots organization and environmental policy making in the Brazilian Amazon

*First image: Duque Reserve, close to Manaus, is a Biological Reserve under strict protection.(Raimundo Pacc).Second image: agricultor is pesticide in a rice cultivation area in Santarm, Par, having the forest as background.(Andreas Valentin).Third image: Women extrativistss movement from the National Council of Rubber Tappers in a public manifestation in Braslia. (NCRT).

**