Pioneer forest management project gets German aid

Brasília - The Ambé Project, the largest forest management project by a local community in a conservation area in Brazil was officially inaugurated last week in Santarém, state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon region. The project will permit the exploitation of lumber and other forest resources in a 32,000 hectare area in the National Forest of Tapajós (Floresta Nacional (Flona) do Tapajós) by local inhabitants. Approximately 1,900 famílies live in 29 communities in the area.

The project will receive a grant of US$450,000 (R$1 million) from the German government as part of the Pilot Program for Protection of Brazilian Tropical Forests and the Amazon Forest Management Project. (Promanejo)

The Ambé Project was approved on an experimental basis by the Brazilian Environmental Protection Institute (Ibama) under a law that allows traditional populations living in forests to exploit local resources for their survival. "This is something that has never been done before. It could become a model for other sustainable development projects throughout the Amazon region," says Antonio Carlos Hummel, of Ibama.

Translation: Allen Bennett