Natura brings together specialists to debate the future of the Amazon

Amazônia Viva panel, broadcast online for guests, brought together different perspectives to reinforce the importance of economic models that generate conservation of the biome and empower local communities

Natura has broadcast the Amazônia Viva panel, an initiative that integrates a series of dialogues to mark the Month of the Amazon. The debate brought together the forest engineer and coordinator of MapBiomas, Tasso Azevedo; associate professor at New York University and member of the Amazon 2030 project, Salo Coslovsky; the coordinator of the SINCHI Institute for scientific research in the Colombian Amazon, Maria Soledad Hernandez; the representative of the Agroextractive Workers Association of Ilha das Cinzas – ATAIC, Joaquina Barbosa Malheiros and the Director of Sustainability of Natura &Co for Latin America, Denise Hills.

One of the panel’s highlights was the recently launched platform PlenaMata – a partnership between Natura, Mapbiomas, InfoAmazonia, and Hacklab, which provides accessible information and data on deforestation to draw attention to the issue and mobilize society around forest conservation and regeneration initiatives. According to data from PRODES/INPE, deforestation has already reached almost 20% of the Brazilian Amazon since the beginning of the historical series in 1988.

Salo Coslovisky, from the Amazônia 2030 project, said that the Amazon has regions rich in native species whose extraction can be done without cutting down any trees. On the other hand, there are also already deforested areas that have low or no productivity. “Brazil’s share in the global export market is 1.3%. If [Brazilian] forest-compatible products had this same market share, the revenue would be $2 billion. So we’re leaving that on the table by not paying attention to this possibility.”

Tasso Azevedo said that the devastation has spread mainly in public areas of non-designated forests. “For this reason, an essential element is to define the use of these areas based on sustainable logic.” In this sense, the panelists pointed out the importance of business models compatible with the conservation of the world’s largest tropical forest and the empowerment of local communities.

Natura & Co’s director of sustainability for Latin America, Denise Hills, highlighted the potential for developing business in the Amazon by combining economic development with conservation of the standing forest. “The development of activities in harmony with the forest enhances the value of socio-biodiversity and transforms product chains with innovation and technology, a positive economic and socio-environmental impact, as well as zero deforestation. These are the lessons that Natura shares and reaffirms, as there is a vocation for the Amazon where it is possible to reconcile development with a positive socio-environmental impact.”

The sustainable management of bioactive products in the Colombian Amazon, carried out by Natura in partnership with the Sinchi Institute, was also one of the points covered in the panel. The representative of the Agroextractive Workers Association of Ilha das Cinzas (ATAIC), Joaquina Barbosa Malheiros, recalled that the partnership with cooperatives also favors other aspects such as female empowerment. “In general, women’s work is invisible. At ATAIC, among the more than 300 families that participate in the production chain, 60% are led by women. With this, we have the possibility of showing their importance both in the family income and in the production chain, combining agro-extractivist productive work with access to knowledge. Thus, we value people.”

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