Sustainable Income Alternatives in the Médio Rio Negro II Indigenous Reserve
ACT helped the 16 commu
nities of the Médio Rio Negro II Indigenous Reserve of the Brazilian state of Amazonas draft and publish their reserve management plan, which includes a sustainable development income generation component. ACT provided the indigenous community representatives, united under their association ACIR, with a five-day capacity building workshop in artisan handicrafts design and marketing. Also collaborating were representatives of the national environmental agency ICMBio and the prominent Brazilian NGO ISA. The indigenous participants proposed the creation of a united handicrafts marketing cooperative among all communities to more effectively promote their products. Read more about the Rio Negro II Indigenous
Sustainable Income Alternatives for the Suruí: Coffee Processing
The Suruí people of the western Brazilian Amazon urgently need help to develop alternatives to the illegal logging and soybean farming that drive the local economy. To complement its reserve management plan, the Suruí association Metareilá prepared a plan for sustainable income generation emphasizing non-timber forest products for local and national markets as well as certification and marketing of organic coffee. In 2009, ACT helped to construct a building to house a coffee grounds processing machine within one of the main Suruí villages as well as to maintain the equipment. The construction of infrastructure for coffee processing in Suruí territory has enabled greater reach of the processing of Suruí coffee. By locating the machine in the Suruí territory, more Suruí families have access to this value-added service, reducing transportation costs and expanding much-needed income generation in the Suruí territory. Over 50 Suruí families are benefitting. Read more about the Suruí and their Lands
