The second year of the Biodiversity Conservation on Public Lands in the Amazon has begun! Between October 22 and November 4, CSF staff conducted their second visit to assess the technical development of business plans in indigenous lands relating to the sale of Brazil nuts, açaí berries, and arapaima fish. In addition, staff collected data on Brazil nut production by the Apurinã indigenous families. They visited associations and organizations in the municipalities of Cacoal, Humaitá Lábrea, and the Caititu indigenous territory. For more information please visit our Projects page.

In October 2012 CSF completed and delivered business plans for Tourism in Indigenous lands (the Paiter-Surui and Parintintin). The plans were part of the Garah Itxa project on Ethnoenvironmental Corridors in the Brazilian Amazon. At the project's closing event, CSF launched a publication with the compilation of the main results of the project. To obtain this publication and learn more about business plans visit our Projects page.

Divulgamos aqui o resultado do processo seletivo para o Curso de Ferramentas Econômicas para a Conservação - Infraestrutura na Amazônia, apoiado pela Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation e USAID. Foi um processo concorrido devido à quantidade e qualidade dos inscritos. Dessa forma, o critério de seleção levou em conta - além do perfil do candidato - a distribuição geográfica, perfil e segmento das instituições, envolvimento com o tema e gênero. Temos duas listas de selecionados: uma lista principal e uma lista de espera, em ordem de prioridade. Os candidatos selecionados na lista principal deverão confirmar sua participação até o dia 30 de julho. Caso haja desistências, elas serão preenchidas de acordo com a ordem de prioridade da lista de espera. LISTRA PRINCIPAL

In April, CSF held the third workshop of the CSF Project for Tourism in Indigenous Peoples' Lands Paiter-Surui and Parintintin. We discussed the final details of tours and infrastructure, the market study data, and the financial viability of the businesses. The project aims at developing a business plan for tourism for each indigenous area. The process of preparing the plan is done in a participatory manner, with decisions made collectively. In addition to discussing the business aspects, the CSF workshops also provide an opportunity to empower indigenous people. As each stage of the project is completed, participants enjoy a greater level of community involvement.

In early December, CSF’s Marcos Amend delivered economics know-how to students in the Professional Masters for Protected Area Managers program run by INPA (National Institute for Amazon Research). The program's objective is to train managers to face the challenges of protected areas management in Amazon region. This is the second time CSF has contributed to the program, which was founded by CSF course graduate Rita Mesquita.

CSF-Brazil analyst Fernanda Alvarenga returned to the Southern Amazonas state last week to help locals complete business plans to sustainably use forest resources. The technical assistance sessions followed a business plan training delivered with CSF's Leonardo Fleck and partners from the FORTIS consortium.

Learn how the calculation of financial incentives protects nature. For the full article (in Portuguese), please click the link below: http://planetasustentavel.abril.com.br/noticia/ambiente/quanto-ganha-qu…

For Conservation Strategy Fund's Brazil Executive Director Marcos Amend was featured on Santa Rosa, California's KRCB, discussing economic development as an alternative to deforestation in the Amazon basin. He also explores the work CSF does to prevent destructive roads from being built through the rainforest. To hear what Marcos has to say, click here.

The May 8th - 14th, 2010 edition of The Economist published a letter by President John Reid and CSF course graduate and Fellow Wilson Cabral about the Belo Monte dam. The letter pointed out that the shaky economics of the dam will create pressure for even more dam development upstream of Belo Monte. Construction of the Belo Monte on the Xingu River is rapidly moving forward. But there are positive aspects to this story. A delay in the project of several years, partly due to CSF's 2006 study of the dam, has given time for protected areas and a big new carbon project to be consolidated. This will make it harder for additional big dams, which are the real threat, to be built upstream of Belo Monte on the Xingu.

CSF's John Reid quoted in Plenty magazine about controversial dam on Xingu river in Brazilian Amazon. See the article here http://www.plentymag.com/features/2008/07/amazon.php