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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
Brazil
COURO VEGETAL DAAMAZNIA
Empowered live
Resilient nation
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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ
to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Years
the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.
EditorsEditor-in-Chief: Joseph Corcoran
Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe
Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,
Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu
DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa
Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.
AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude Couro Vegetal da Amaznia, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Bia Saldan
All photo credits courtesy o Couro Vegetal da Amaznia. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.
Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Couro Vegetal da Amaznia, Brazil. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=8587/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: COURO VEGETAL DA AMAZONIA, Brazil
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PROJECT SUMMARYCouro Vegetal da Amaznia began operating in the Brazilianstate o Acre in 1996, in an attempt to improve the livelihoodopportunities and wellbeing o Amazonian rubber-tappingcommunities. This project brought together more than 200local and indigenous amilies in three orest communities,providing training in an innovative processing method toproduce sheets o vulcanized rubber. This material, made ocotton abric drenched in natural latex extracted rom wildrubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), was sold in abric sheetsto textile corporations and marketed as an alternative to
leather.The enterprise overcame the challenge o alling pricesor natural rubber and took advantage o growing marketdemand or ecologically sound and sustainably producedashion items. By adding value to the raw latex theyharvested, participating communities beneted romhigher prices or their rubber, contributing to povertyreduction and community empowerment.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2002
FOUNDED: 1996
LOCATION: Acre, Brazil
BENEFICIARIES: Over 200 rubber tapping families
BIODIVERSITY: Incentive to protect forest ecosystems
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 5
Biodiversity Impacts 6
Socioeconomic Impacts 6
Partners 7
COURO VEGETAL DA AMAZNIABrazil
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During the 1990s, the Amazon Rainorest was decimated by
eorestation driven by a number o processes including orest
learance or agriculture and cattle-ranching, and the construction
large highways, such as the Belm-Braslia and Trans-Amazonian.
his process destroyed habitats and endangered the integrity
the Amazonian ecosystem. Despite Brazils advanced orest
rotection laws, poor enorcement hampered their eectiveness,
nd in practice, indigenous and orest-dwelling communities were
ten the only line o deence to protect the orest on which their
velihoods depended. Communities o rubber tappers, in particular,
ecame de facto protectors o the Amazons remaining orest cover,
ten coming into confict with loggers.
n the Brazilian Amazon, as many as 63,000 amilies depend on
ubber tapping or their living, producing vegetal latex - a natural
esource that has been managed sustainably by indigenous peoples
nd rubber tappers in the Amazon or centuries. Today, the activitys conducted mainly in extractive reserves: protected areas o orest
stablished by the Brazilian government that cover approximately
ne per cent o the Brazilian Amazon.
n the states o Acre and Amazonas, however, traditional and artisanal
mall-scale rubber production was harmed during the 1990s when
ubber treatment plants and urban merchants ceased purchasing
ubber rom indigenous communities. As a result, these rubber
appers were orced to sell their product to regates (traveling
merchants) who paid low prices or raw rubber. This market shit
ecreased the viability o rubber tapping as an economic activity or
orest-dwelling communities.
Supporting indigenous livelihoods
Couro Vegetal da Amaznia began operating in Acre in 1996, in an
ttempt to improve the situation o rubber tapping communities.
his partnership project brought together over 200 rubber tapping
amilies in the Brazilian Amazon and trained them in an innovative
rocessing method to produce sheets o vulcanized rubber. This
material, made o cotton abric drenched in natural latex extracted
rom wild rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), was marketed as an
lternative to leather under the name Treetap.
he material was sold in abric sheets to textile corporations, and
sed to manuacture a range o products including bags, backpacks,riecases, garments and ootwear, which were sold to Brazilian
etail outlets. By adding value to the raw latex they harvested,
articipating communities beneted rom higher prices or their
ubber. The enterprise not only overcame the challenge o alling
rices or natural rubber, but also took advantage o a growing
market demand or ecologically sound and sustainably produced
ashion items.
The Treetap product
The Treetap product was derived rom a traditional handicrat pro
called saco encauchado - bags made o abric rendered waterp
by rubberizing - which were traditionally used by rubber tap
or carrying latex and personal belongings. In 1992, EcoMerc
a business specializing in ecological products rom the Ama
purchased 1,500 sheets o this rubberized abric rom Amazo
rubber tappers and used them to make nags and briecases w
were showcased and sold to an enthusiastic reception at the Un
Nations Conerence on Environment and Development held in B
in June 1992. Following two years o research and developmen
Couro Vegetal, the rubberizing process was perected in 1994, g
rise to the production o Treetap and its use in the manuactu
variety o artisanal handicrats.
This process is an example o successul combination o scieexpertise and traditional knowledge, and it helped to re
customary method o rubber processing while adding valu
the end product. For example, early rubberized products w
become sticky with oxidation. With a USD 1,000,000 loan rom
Brazilian Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvim
Econmico e Social BNDES) in 1994, Couro Vegetal da Amaz
was able to invest in production technology and inrastructure
helped to overcome this deect, creating a rubberized abric
met quality standards or international consumer markets.
Ater signing cooperative agreements with its three prod
associations (Associao de Produtores de Artesanato e Ser
Associao dos Seringueiros Kaxinaw do Rio Jordo, and Associdos Seringueiros e Agricultores da Reserva Extrativista do Alto Ju
Couro Vegetal da Amaznia merged with Amazon Lie, a Braz
eco-riendly ashion brand, in 1998. This merger resulted in Tre
products being marketed through a store in Rio de Janeiro, and
successul creation o the internationally recognized Treetap br
Ultimately, the success o Couro Vegetal da Amaznia was s
lived. In 2008, the company was orced to close when it o
itsel unable to repay its BNDES loan. In 2004, the bank began
process o executing the USD 1,000,000 debt, and although
company ound some international support, it was unable to
the necessary nance. This outcome refects the challenges
by small rubber tapping communities in attempting to comwith industrial rubber producers on price, while bearing the
costs o transporting goods rom rural Amazonia to urban mar
High costs, along with the sometimes variable quality o the g
produced, ultimately made the business nancially unsustain
Nevertheless, through its lasting eects on public policy and
dierence it made in the lives o the communities it served
enterprise can be considered an important chapter in the sto
rubber tapping in Brazil.
Background and Context
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Key Activities and Innovationshe chie activity o Couro Vegetal da Amaznia was its production
o Treetap, encompassing the sustainable harvesting o latex rom
ative rubber trees by rubber tappers through its processing into
ubberized abric and its transport to market. This method is still
mployed by Associao de Produtores de Artesanato e Seringa,
who produce rubber under the trademark Seringueiro or sale in
ocal and regional markets.
o produce the Treetap product, raw latex, nicknamed leite (milk) by
ubber tappers, is extracted rom the trunks o the Hevea brasiliensis
ree using two tap cuts. To allow trees to recover and ensure that
xtraction remains sustainable, a minimum o two years is let
beore another tap cut may be made on the same tree. This raw latex
s ltered and seasoned with a chemical composition to promote
ulcanization (harden. This mixture is then strained beore being
painted on to both sides o a sheet o cotton canvas stretched over
rame. The canvas is then smoke-cured using a traditional method.his process o painting and smoking is repeated six times. The
moked laminate is then vulcanized inside a simple brick kiln, where
t is cooked or two days at 60-80C. Ater two days, the latex mixture
on the canvas turns a deep brown colour, giving it the appearance
o leather. When completely dry, the laminates are cut, each rame
producing two sheets measuring approximately 80 cm by 60 cm.
During Couro Vegetal da Amaznias years o operation, these sheets
were stacked and stored, to be collected three or our times a year
nd carried by boat to Boca do Acre, and rom there on to Rio de
aneiro. Some laminates were also kept in Boca do Acre, where a
mall actory produced bags or the local tourist market.
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ImpactsBIODIVERSITY IMPACTS
Because rubber tapping does not require that rubber trees be
ut down in order or the latex to be extracted, traditional and
ndigenous communities can maintain the well-being o the orest
ecosystem while generating a sustainable income. Taking advantage
o this innovative vulcanization method enabled rubber tappers in
Acre to continue to pursue their traditional livelihood activity, and
provided continued incentive or the conservation o the orest that
upports the rubber trees.
n areas o rainorest inhabited and directly used by the participants
o this initiative, 55,800 hectares o land were directly protected by
trengthening the economic incentive or the protection o rubber
rees and their surrounding ecosystems. I indirect use and protection
re considered or the our larger areas in which these producer
ssociations live the Mapi Inauini National Forest (311,000 ha),Kaxinaw Indigenous Lands o Rio Jordo and o Independncia
Wild Rubber Tree Forest (a combined total o 102,043 ha) and Alto
uru Extractivist Reserve (506,186 ha) the project contributed to
he conservation o 1,178,229 ha o rainorest.
The project successully demonstrated the integration o biodiversity
onservation into productive landscapes, and that the use o orest
ecosystems by indigenous communities in protected areas can
ontribute to their sustainable management. Since the closure o
he company in 2008, however, the Alto Juru Extractivist Reserve
has come under increased pressure rom a cattle-ranching project.
Rubber tapping is nonetheless still carried out by both Associao de
Produtores de Artesanato e Seringa and Associao dos Seringueirose Agricultores da Reserva Extrativista do Alto Juru, although the
atter employs a slightly dierent method or curing rubber, known
s FDL (Folha Desumada Liquida Liquid Smoked Sheet).
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
By adding value to create handicrats that could compet
international markets, thereby improving the economic viabil
traditional rubber tapping, Couro Vegetal da Amaznia impr
the economic situations o more than 200 amilies. The developm
production and commercialization o Treetap vegetal lea
generated work and income or more than 1,000 people during
lietime o the project.
The new vulcanized rubber product secured higher price
producers. In 2002, rubber tappers were receiving BRL 8.00
3.08) or a kilogram o Treetap vegetal leather, compared to betw
BRL 0.80 (USD 0.31) and BRL 1.10 (USD 0.42) per kilogram o
natural rubber. This had the potential to dramatically imp
incomes, with a tenold increase in revenue per kilogram, the
directly contributing to poverty reduction and greater commwellbeing. Many producers used their increased earnings to m
improvements to their dwellings and to purchase durable g
essential or jungle lie, such as engines, boats, power saws, and
or hunting.
Furthermore, the initiative is an excellent example o the succe
combination o traditional and indigenous knowledge
modern, technological innovation. Local livelihoods were impr
without compromising traditional livelihoods or altering custo
techniques o orest management. On the contrary, the ru
tappers traditional skills and knowledge ormed the basis o
Couro Vegetal project, thereby instilling a strong sense o
ownership and involvement in the project.
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Sustainability and ReplicationCouro Vegetal da Amaznia was a pioneer in the development o
artnerships between Amazon communities, the private sector,
NGOs and state and ederal government. In particular, strong
nstitutional links were established with the Acre state government
nd with ederal agencies. These partnerships benetted the project
y providing continued nancial and institutional support and
apacity building or producers and their associations, and ensuring
mproved working conditions in production areas. Examples o this
ollaboration include work agreements jointly established with
he ederal Ministry o the Environment and with the Secretary or
Amazon Coordination.
y the time it concluded in 2008, the policy landscape regarding
he Brazilian Amazon had changed a great deal, and Couro Vegetal
a Amaznia along, with similar projects, no doubt contributed in
ome ways to these developments. Relations between small-scale
raditional and indigenous producers and government entitiesmproved drastically between 1992 and 2008, and nancial
ncentives or producing locally-harvested and sustainable rubber
rew. The activity has now been accepted as a viable option or the
ong-term sustainable development o the Amazon region.
n partnership with the state government o Acre, the Couro Vegetal
a Amaznia project was replicated in two urther locations, with
he aim o transerring acquired experiences and technologies to
ther producer associations. Ultimately, however, the Couro Vegetal
a Amaznia initiative came to an end in 2008. Despite receiving
ome international support rom NGOs such as Environmental
Deense Fund, Greenpeace and Friends o the Earth who promoted
he Treetap product, the company ound itsel unable to makeepayments on its USD 1,000,000 loan rom BNDES. When the bank
egan proceedings to execute the loan in 2004, Couro Vegetal da
Amaznia was unable to make the necessary repayments.
n the end, attempting to compete with industrial rubber producers
n price proved to be an unsustainable endeavour given the high
osts involved in transporting the end product rom isolated, rural
Amazonian communities to the urban markets where it was to
e sold. This actor was compounded by issues o inconsistency
n the quality o the goods produced. The story o Couro Vegetal
a Amaznia oers an insight into the range o challenges acing
ubber tapping communities in attempting to develop sustainable
nd meaningul livelihoods in their remote communities.
PARTNERS
Couro Vegetal da Amaznia worked cooperatively with a r
o partners. NGOs including the Environmental Deense F
Greenpeace and Friends o the Earth promoted Treetap product
championed the projects work in sustainable orest managem
while the World Wildlie Fund (WWF) assisted in identiying
markets and product certication, with unding rom the
Foundation.
The Brazilian Ministry o the Environment assisted in helping
project to diversiy and promote its products. The initiative
worked with the indigenous peoples organizations ComissaoIndo do Acre and Nucleo de Cultura Indigena. Finally, the Braz
Biodiversity Fund (Fundo Brasileiro para Biodiversidade Fun
provided nancing or the identication o new markets or Tre
products.
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Tel: +1 646 781-4023
www.equatorinitiative.org
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change
onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.
The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati
o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.
2012 by Equator Initiative
All rights reserved
FURTHER REFERENCE
GEF Small Grants Programme, Equator Initiative. 2006. Community Action to Conserve Biodiversity: Linking Biodiversity Conservation
Poverty Reduction. United Nations Development Programme.
Couro Vegetal da Amaznia video (Vimeo) vimeo.com/27248409
http://vimeo.com/27019256http://vimeo.com/27019256http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348165961.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348163891.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348161335.pdf