The implementation of the project took place in the context of the growing prominence of community-based forest management, both timber and non-timber, as a tool for reducing deforestation, given that it constitutes an important source of sustainable income for forest managers and serves as an alternative to predatory conventional exploitation practices.
When carried out collectively, forest management has the potential to strengthen the social and political standing of families and the community, as they become key actors in the production and organizational processes. It also promotes productive inclusion, ensures income generation, and enhances territorial ownership.
However, several barriers must still be overcome for community forest management to become fully consolidated, such as securing access to and use of forest resources, strengthening social organization, expanding access to credit, improving technical assistance, and improving market access.

The project aimed to support community forest management in Amazonas by improving management practices and strengthening communication among forest sector stakeholders (family and community managers, forestry professionals, and buyers). Although timber management was emphasized, the project also supported non-timber forest management, particularly the extraction of vegetable oils.

A scalable forest extension strategy was implemented to promote the multiple use of natural resources, with the objective of developing sustainable production chains through associations and cooperatives of riverine extractivist communities across the 11 municipalities supported by the project.

The project operated in Sustainable Use Protected Areas (both federal and state), traditional settlement projects, and environmentally differentiated settlement projects.

The direct effects pursued by the project were defined as follows: Under the Sustainable Production Component (1), the Indirect Effect is that activities that keep the forest standing have economic attractiveness in five regional hubs of the State of Amazonas, in the surroundings of the municipalities of Apuí, Itapiranga, Silves, Lábrea, and Carauari; the Direct Effect (1.1) is that economic activities based on the sustainable use of forests and biodiversity are identified and developed in the supported hubs; the Direct Effect (1.2) is that value-added forest and biodiversity product chains are strengthened in these hubs; and the Direct Effect (1.3) is that technical capacities for implementing forest management activities are enhanced. Under the Science, Innovation, and Economic Instruments Component (4), the Indirect Effect is that science, technology, and innovation activities contribute to the sustainable use of biodiversity, while Direct Effect (4.1) is that knowledge and technologies for small-scale timber and non-timber forest management are produced, disseminated, and applied.

Component 1 – Establishment of the Cidades Florestais Network

• Structuring of the Forest Center to support community organizations at Idesam’s headquarters;
• Development of the Inatú web platform to support community processing units through computer-based management tools, and development of the Cidades Florestais mobile app to allow the recording and consultation, via cellphone, of data on the collection and stock of forest products. The app is freely available on the Play Store, and public information collected by its users can be viewed at https://cidadesflorestais.org.br/;
• Provision of satellite internet access to the offices of four community forest product processing units supported by the project, located in Apuí, Lábrea, São Sebastião do Uatumã, and Carauari;
• Production of audiovisual materials on forest management and harvesting, good practices in vegetable oil production, commercialization, forest certification, associativism and cooperativism, tutorial videos on using the Cidades Florestais app, and materials related to safety procedures for project operations;
• Completion and dissemination of two studies on deforestation dynamics in the project’s areas of intervention and their relationship with project activities and results.

Component 2 – Multiple Forest Use: Technical Assistance, Capacity Building, and Support for Small-Scale Managed Timber Chains

• Construction of two storage sheds for forestry machinery;
• Preparation and licensing of Forest Management Plans, totaling 11 plans prepared, 7 licensed, and covering 5,851 hectares;
• Training courses on forest management, forest harvesting, and machinery operation;
• Establishment of three extension hubs to support community organizations participating in the project, including the acquisition of three tractors, two pickup trucks, and three motorized mini-barges for reducing product transport costs.

Component 3 – Amazonas Vegetable Oils Network

• Implementation of two new vegetable oil processing units (in the Uatumã SDR and in Apuí) and modernization of three existing units in Lábrea, Carauari, and Silves;
• Acquisition of machinery for existing units and mini-units;
• Promotion of the collective brand Inatú Amazônia, launched by the project in August 2020;
• Provision of extension services (ATER) and specialized technical assistance for value-chain management and raw material collection, laboratory testing for different forest species, support for new product development, processing, and commercialization;
• Capacity building and technical advisory for the management of community enterprises;
• FSC certification of the processes for extracting breu-branco essential oil and copaíba oil by AACRDSU. The association became the first in the Amazon and the first within a protected area in the state of Amazonas to obtain this important certification of origin for forest products. A promotional video announcing the certification was produced by the project and is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0szuDACFR6U.

Component 4 – Visibility of Forest Products

• Organization of the “Manejar I and II – Family and Community Forest Production in Amazonas” seminars in Manaus. The first event gathered 131 participants, including rural producers, forestry professionals, students, and representatives of governmental organizations. The second brought together 17 panelists and several institutions, covering topics such as forest service networks, business opportunities, the Inatú Amazônia collective brand, and results of the Cidades Florestais project;
• Delivery of seven workshops introducing FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification for timber and non-timber forest products, as well as organic certification for non-timber products;
• Completion of the two-volume study “Opportunities in Environmental Services for the Forest Production Chains of Amazonas”, covering all municipalities within the Cidades Florestais project area. The study aimed to map environmental services associated with the conservation of managed forests, and identify financing mechanisms to ensure continuity of key project activities after its completion;
• Development of a model for estimating and monitoring environmental services that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). It is estimated that the Cidades Florestais Project reduced approximately 900,000 tCO₂ in 2018 and 2019, enabling additional investments of around R$ 18 million for local value chains;
• Support for the development of new branding and identities for seven forest products and for promotional actions to boost their sales;
• Preparation of a study on structuring the Inatú Amazônia collective brand, which identified the need for investments in brand governance and developed a business model to support its financial sustainability, reducing reliance on institutional donors.

 

The main indicators agreed upon for monitoring these objectives were: