Sustainable Cupuaçu in the Amazon

Project begin: 01/02/2017

In Bela Aurora and Santa Luzia, Brazil, local communities have started replanting native species like the Cupuaçu to turn the rainforest into a sustainable source of food and income.

Leading organisation: Beraca Institute for Sociobiodiversity

The country where the team is based: Brazil

Theme: Biodiversity, Education for Sustainable Development

Sub-themes: Climate change, Environment, Food and food security, Forests and desertification, Forests and desertification, Gender equality and women's empowerment, Knowledge sharing, Natural resource management, Sustainable lifestyles, Sustainable lifestyles

Selection: 2020/2021

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Project needs

Crowdfunding

Equipment supply

Logistical support

Monitoring and evaluation

Research

Sponsorship/ Philanthropy

Training

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Native species plantation

Deforestation is the main threat to the Amazon biome. In the past 30 years, nearly 1,000,000 km² of Amazonian forest have been destroyed to make way for pasture areas and soybean crops. Impacting the rain cycle, this leads to more intense, prolonged droughts and increases the risk of natural fires.

Protect, explore & educate

To reverse this situation, the rainforest urgently needs to be restored and maintained. With this objective, in 2017, local farmers in Bela Aurora and Santa Luzia decided to act. Supported by Klorane Botanical Foundation (KBF) and Beraca Institute for the Valorization of Sociobiodiversity (IB), the Sustainable Cupuaçu in the Amazon Project aims to protect the Amazon biome and educate local populations, while helping families produce cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum), a species native to the Amazon, using Agroforestry Systems (SAF).

Collective action with flourishing results

To date, 2,656 cupuaçu seedlings have been planted over 11.85 hectares and produce an average of 77 tons of fruit per harvest. Working as a collective, the farmers have built a seedling nursery, sharing their experiences and testing different eco-agricultural techniques. A group of local women has also created an organic kitchen garden.

Breaking with traditional agricultural methods is a slow process but the collective is determined to return to a more natural and sustainable relationship with nature.

More information about this initiative?

institutoberaca.org/