Modernized businesses unite preservation and profit in the Amazon – 06/04/2023 – Environment

Aromatic and valuable ingredient for the cosmetics industry, breu branco oil was already an old acquaintance of the communities of RDS (Sustainable Development Reserve) Uatumã, which is about 330 km from Manaus.

But it was two years ago that the investment in a plant for oil production leveraged the economic potential.

Whenever it suffers a perforation, the breu branco tree prevents invasion by insects by releasing a resin of the same name, which then hardens on its bark.

“In 2019, we extracted the resin from the tree and sold it at R$2.50 a kilo. Today we produce the essential oil at the plant and sell it for R$1,300 a liter”, says Vanderley Cruz, manager of the RDS Uatumã oil plant, which was built with funds from the Amazon Fund. He says that 400 kg of resin yield 2.5 liters of oil.

“I was the first buyer, I helped in the beginning with consultancies, but today I can’t buy, because they are in great demand”, says Domingos Amaral Neto, director of Biozer da Amazônia, which develops natural cosmetics and herbal medicines.

Biozer also received support thanks to R&D (research and development) funds allocated by an electronics manufacturer in the Manaus Free Trade Zone, which has a share in the profits.

Directing investments towards the bioeconomy is done through the PPBio (Priority Bioeconomy Program). It is an option created by Suframa (Manaus Free Trade Zone Superintendence) for mandatory investment that companies must make in R&D.

The amount must correspond to at least 5% of the billing as a counterpart to tax benefits.
Between 2019 and 2022, the program raised BRL 91.6 million from 33 companies. But convincing businesses in the Manaus Free Trade Zone —mostly focused on the technology sector— to invest in the forest is still a challenge.

“The first objective of this R&D policy is to give the company technical autonomy to increase competitiveness and remain in the region. That’s why we don’t impose it, but we try to give the right incentives for the company itself to invest in these areas”, says Rafael Gouveia, coordinator of Suframa’s technological management.

The task of building partnerships with entrepreneurs, communities and researchers is the responsibility of Idesam (Institute for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon), which has coordinated PPBio since 2019.

At the beginning of the year, the NGO promoted an expedition to RDS Uatumã bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, technology and innovation institutions and reserve communities.

“About 99% of companies invest in R&D in order to save on processes, spend less, but it is possible to think about how technological solutions aimed at a company in the Free Zone can serve here in the community”, says André Machado, director of the Creathus technology institute .

On the other hand, technology comes up against access difficulties. In conversation with researchers and entrepreneurs, community leaders from Uatumã stated that there is a lack of knowledge about the challenges in the forest, such as the lack of internet and electricity.

“Several partnerships end up not prospering because they don’t take into account the fact that we don’t have 5G internet to run a system”, says Cruz.

Although it is crossed by the Tucuruí line, which transmits electricity to Manaus, the region is not part of the Interconnected Energy System and depends on diesel for energy generation.

“We are studying together with the private initiative how to take natural gas through barges to some regions so that the isolated systems also have this clean matrix”, said governor Wilson Lima (União Brasil), on a visit to RDS Uatumã to deliver gas kits solar energy.

Lima said he plans to combine the use of solar energy, a renewable source, and gas (of fossil origin) in a program to change the state’s energy matrix.

Asked about the advantage of gas over solar energy for isolated systems, the governor said that “gas is more efficient and needs a smaller volume, while solar energy needs a much larger area”.

Another challenge is to guarantee volume and scale for the products that keep the forest standing.

“With the chain still pulverized, the price of tucumã pulp fluctuated last year between R$ 30 and R$ 130 per kilo. No industry survives with this oscillation”, says chef Beto Pinto, partner at Smart Food, which produces tucuma burgers.

Popular in the region, the Amazonian fruit is used in snacks such as X-caboquinho. The texture of the pulp, orange, resembles coconut. “Whoever comes here loves it, but he doesn’t leave here. Açaí is already all over the world, so we want to take the tucumã”, says the chef.

Smart Food has 32 points of sale in eight states, but Pinto says he does not want to expand the business at any cost. “It has to be good for the community, for the entrepreneur and for the consumer. If someone is not happy, it is not socio-biodiversity.”

One of the desires of the Gracilazo Miranda community was to continue working with wood. “He had the machines, but without documentation, he was hiding. Now I work with my head held high.” Today he manages and manages the furniture factory in Uatumã, which produces pieces commissioned by renowned designers.

“Before, it was going into a forest, cutting down 20, 30 trees, cutting them into planks, taking them to the middleman”, he recalls. “Not today, we make a forest management plan, everything is licensed. If you ask me where the wood in a piece came from, I’ll take you to the tree.”

The reserve maintains food production in agroforestry systems and even manages an inn.

“It’s a dream, to strengthen family ties and with the community, so that my children don’t have to go around looking for a salary. If I want a better world, it’s because I’m in this world”, says Elizangela Cavalcante, furniture store manager and one of the leaders of the reserve.

The reporter traveled at the invitation of Idesam (Institute for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon)