Income Generation

Income Generation Program

Iracambi's vision of thriving communities in a thriving landscape will gain much greater strength as find ways for the forest to provide additional revenue for farmers. Often, this will be the deciding factor as to whether a farmer will cut down or preserve.

One such alternative, on which Iracambi is already working, is medicinal plants. Hundreds of plants in the rainforest have recognized medicinal properties, and many more are traditionally used, but have not been scientifically evaluated. We aim to identify the plants by drawing on local knowledge and scientific research, and determine how they can be harvested and marketed for a profit, creating an incentive to keep the forest intact.

Objective:

To create an alternative and viable method of income generation by identifying, researching and marketing medicinal plants native to the rainforest as well as adding value by creating a line of medicinal products. The focus will be on:

Identifying opportunities for farmers to receive financial incentives for forest conservation and environmental services (carbon trading, water-shed protection);
Identifying other income generating forest products (such as hearts of palm, ornamental plants)

Activities

Payment for Environmental Services Water Project: identifying priority areas for forest conservation to ensure that the watershed is protected for downstream users. Working with governing bodies to ensure that payments are fulfilled for the conservation of these areas, and establishing a community-based and technical monitoring scheme for the Graminha hydrological basin.
Trials of production alternatives: identifying, researching and marketing commercially atractive products from plant native to the rainforest, as well as adding value by to existing traditional products.

Outcome:

Recommendations for the production and marketing of medicinal plants;
Development of other forest-derived product lines.

Research Opportunities:

Projects:

Tools:

Click here to see our research papers on this topic.