1. Projeto PEN-RAVA na Amazônia Oriental: Coordenadora- Jamie Cotta Assistentes –Rilson Lima, Petrônio Barroso, Gláucio Vaz e Camila Verbicaro

2. Study Context
Amazonian estuarine floodplain forests, Pará, Brazil 2 most distant communities separated by 88 km
Climate:
Super humid
Avg temp 27° C
Avg precip 2000 mm/yr
Forest cover: Predominantly secondary growth (history of timber extraction, agriculture, and other forest product extraction, little remaining mature forest)
WE HAVE ONLY ENTERED DATA FOR 3 OF THE 4 COMMUNITIES!!!
4 villages (138 households)
6.1 persons/household, based on 3 of 4 communities

3. Tauerá de Beja1 Sirituba Acaraqui
Community
Tauerá de Beja1
Sirituba
Acaraqui
Population
619
~550 
500
# interviewed 36 35 32
In migration Out migration
15 individuals 12 individuals
10 individuals 100 individuals
10 individuals 15 individuals
Land Tenure
Individual title holders
Use concession (riverdwellers)
Agro-Extractive Settlement Project (use concession)
Agro-Extractive Settlement Project and quilombola (use concession/collective title)
Principal economic activities
Agricultural crops (primarily manioc and some cupuaçú), açai fruit, fishing (8 families), Miriti toy production.
Açai fruit and wine, shrimp trap production, fishing, sale of miriti pulp
Açai, fishing, agricultural crops, sugar cane
Most important cultivars
manioc, cupuaçú
NSA
manioc
Major forest products
Açaí, charcoal for sale, firewood for subsistence
Açaí, miriti, firewood for subsistence
Açaí, firewood for subsistence, little charcoal
Other important forest products
Medicine: veronica bark Fibers and lianas: arumã, miriti, and jupati stems, guarachama, buiuçú, titica vine, ubuçú palms leaves
Medicine: veronica bark, lacre, sumu de buiuçú, andiroba oil, and caxinguba milk Fibers and lianas: Paxiuba, jupati stems, graxama, miriti stems and arumã.
Medicine: andiroba oil, veronica bark, sucuúba milk, caxinguba milk, and amapá milk Fibers and lianas: Arumã, miriti and jupati stems, sororoca, graxama, and ubuçú palm leaves
Market access
Agricultural products and forest products sold in community to intermediaries
(then sold as far as Belém, Pará), or sold in nearby city
13 km/50 min by bike to city
4.5 km/25 min by boat to city
10 km/1 hour by boat to city
Context cont...
These communities represent a small small fraction of reality in Brazil, and even Pará. No capture of timber based economies in the Brazil studies, for example, no indigenous groups, etc.
Data presented in following slides refers to only 3 communities, based upon an UNCHECKED database...to reveal general trends only!!!
Communities gradually settled during history of economic booms. Timber, rubber, later sugar cane. Acaraqui populated by descendants of escaped slaves
Settlement history: Acaraqui may present a difference in income, etc. due to the fact that it is a quilombola area and is essentially composed of two communities. Community cohesion is poor and access to government assistance, etc. appears more difficult here.
Market access: No major differences, especially due to the presence of intermediaries. However Terê is located further from other towns and markets in general.

4. Household income sources
Slide II: Household income sources
**Forest income largely composed of açaí fruit and miriti pulp, shrimp traps, charcoal.. I
In Terê it would be açaí, heart of palm, timber (not included here)
**Agriculture - Principally farinha, some cupuaçú
Livestock - Negligible
Other - See slide 6
Non-forest environmental 0 Predominantly firewood and charcoal, which are forest products – possibly should be moved to forest product table?
Wage Labor - Very important for some families
Own business - Small merchandise, Resale of city goods

5. Slide III: Income sources and seasonality
Forest products (managed secondary forests)
Açaí (predominantly intensively managed forest)
Miriti fruit and pulp (fruit purchased from other communities and resold in study communities)
Handicrafts (palm material and lianas)
Timber and heart of palm very important in 4th community, not shown here
Açaí important in all Q, as it has a long fruiting season…with tendency to be higher in Q1 and Q4.
Miriti fruit important in Q1 and Q2 in Sirituba and Acaraqui. Two major activities in Sirituba (miriti and shrimp traps)
Heart of palm primarily sold as a byproduct of açaí management practices, except for in 4th community, which is not shown here. In the past it was more important
Gap filler when agricultural incomes are low? NO
As açaí has grown in importance, and has a fairly long fruiting season, other products seem to serve as gap fillers when açaí is not available.
This is more prominent in floodplain forests, but also occurring in terra firme.
Important activities during açaí off-season:
Wage labor (forest and agricultural activities)
Shrimp traps made of lianas and palm fibers
Miriti fruit and pulp
Charcoal production
Timber (1 community)
Comment on which are “forest” vs. “other environmental income” sources….
Subsistence pricing
Own-reported values based on estimated price to purchase the product within the community, cross-checked with focus groups during each survey period (Q1-Q4)

6. Other income breakdown
Largest 3 (retirement, bolsa familia, fisherman’s compnensation) are important in all communities

7. Income composition and poverty
 Slide V: Income composition and poverty
Forest income increases more or less as income does, so not a case where poorest people rely more on forest resources.  I think it would be more interesting to look at, LATER, relation of forest income to wage work, etc.
Other patterns
Forests to weather misfortune? – NO
Possible stepping stone out of poverty? – NO
Road/market access – NSA

8. Policies and overall findings
Recent credit lines biased toward açaí production
- Investments contributed to intensive açaí management, to the detriment of forest diversity, and ecosystem services
- Açaí densities increased to detriment of miriti populations
Extension and TA lacking for smallholders in the study area
Contributed to no or poor management of landholdings, and unsustainable forest management practices
Side VII: Policies and overall findings
Are there any particular projects or policies in the study area that have had a major impact on the patterns observed above?
What are the most surprising, exciting or convincing findings from your study?

9. Policies and overall findings cont...
Smallholder fear of dependence upon a single product (açaí or miriti)
Government assistance for smallholders is substantial. Bolsa familia and other programs may be significantly changing smallholder activities
Important forest resources undervalued and net income much lower due to decline in natural stocks (ie lack fo lianas/fibers for shrimp traps)
Collective labor an important component, but not quantified in questionnaire
Side VII: Policies and overall findings
- Need to work with communities to maintain and increase this local knowledge in order to sustain income from forest extraction. Unfamiliarity with liana and other fiber species, which are highly used.
- Collective labor an important component and would be nice to quantify household labor contribution, especially for comparative purposes across regions
- Local pollution could be affecting fruit production, but no evidence ot support

10. General research challenges
Difficulty in sufficiently presenting the research project beforehand to community and all participants
Hesitancy of participants to provide income related information (specif timber) or assets/savings.
Inability to estimate landholding size and approximate land cover for each land use type (due to logistical difficulties in floodplain forests and lack of time and resources)
Little allocated in research budget to return useful products to participating communities and other regional stakeholders, after a time-consuming, highly extractive research process….
(in part due to difficulty in organizing community meetings)
Return results in a more relevant and immediate manner (ie community maps, pamphlets, educational presentations/workshop)