Sharing science with forest communities in Amazonia

People in remote Amazon villages regularly sell 30 metre fruit trees to log-gers that can produce up to 2,000 nutritious fruits a year. The villagers, who rarely know the market prices, earn the equivalent of two US dol-lars per tree.

The villages are losing valuable timber, fruit and medicinal trees that sustain their families. And researchers of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have information that villagers need, such as market prices. But many take the information they want and leave without giving anything back.

Is it possible to change this? Can complex economic and ecological information be made available to semi-literate rural people, in ways that improve their negotiation skills?

Motivated by the information gap felt by communities, 90 Brazilian researchers collaborated to share their data with forest farmers. The resulting book, Frutíferas e PlantasÚteis na Vida Amazônica (Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in the Lives of Amazonians), combines scientific information with traditional knowledge of 30 tree and palm species grown in the Brazilian Amazon.

The book includes illustrations and descriptions of tree and wildlife ecology. It also features economic information, management techniques, nutritious recipes, local legends and songs. The collaborators include scientists, forest farmers, midwives, teachers, policymakers, musicians and artisans.

The first edition of the book, in Portuguese, has been shared with remote villagers throughout Amazonia, with positive results:

• improved negotiations with loggers, resulting in the conservation of fruit and medicinal trees
• improved roles for women in community discussions of timber sales
• the integration of NTFP management into the Institute of Tropical Forestry’s national forestry training programme.

The Brazilian government is producing a new edition which will be distributed to rural communities and non-government organisations, such as the National Council of Rubber Tappers. The Food and Agricultural Organisation will publish an English translation in 2009.

Patricia Shanley
Centre for International Forestry Research, PO Box 0113 BOCBD, Bogor 16000, Indonesia
P.Shanley@cgiar.org