Non-Timber Forest Products

Of the most widely used medicinals in Amazonia, five are logged and three are exported for timber. CIFOR and its local partners are assessing the changing abundance of plants that serve as food and medicinal plants for locally common diseases. Policy makers will be able to use the research findings to develop policies that reduce the negative effect of forest degradation on local health care and nutrition.

Forests and Gender

According to Marina Silva, Brazil's Minister for the Environment, the ability of women to reinforce community actions and help guarantee the social and material survival of the family can be leveraged to yield a new people and forest paradigm. CIFOR's research in Amazonia is helping develop this new paradigm by documenting the crucial role women play in the knowledge and use of non-timber forest products.

Capacity Building

CIFOR and its local partners are making a major contribution to sustaining highly bio-diverse forest ecosystems in Brazil. By facilitating the access of local communities and decision makers to research findings and best practice forest management techniques, CIFOR is strengthening the capacity of local stakeholders to make better informed decisions about their forests.