Results Workshop: Community Bioentrepreneurship in the A2.0 implementation countries

On November 9th, 2022, the Regional Coordination of Project A2.0 convened the virtual workshop "Community Bioenterprises in the countries implementing the Amazonia 2.0 project", where the main findings, results and recommendations of the consultancy process with the same name were socialized.

This consultancy, executed during 2022 by a team of professionals led by Jorge Rodríguez, arose from a need found throughout the implementation of the project regarding the search for and generation of sustainable economic alternatives to guarantee the good living of the Amazonian peoples. Although the Amazonia 2.0 project fundamentally deals with community monitoring aspects, during its years of implementation it became evident the relationship between the development of monitoring activities and the financial sustainability of the peoples and communities, both components of an efficient territorial governance.

The essence of the contribution of the product resulting from this consultancy, within the framework of A2.0, is found in the initial mapping of biobusinesses in the 6 countries where the project was implemented, seeking to understand their functioning and relationship with the effective management of community forests. Understanding that indigenous territories have the best conserved forests on the planet, it is key to give importance to sustainable economic activities that guarantee quality of life for the community, contributing to the indigenous economy while supporting the preservation of forests, biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Gustavo Solano, a member of the consulting team, led the virtual workshop where he presented the main findings of the research work, which are included in a final document that will be distributed virtually. Among the most relevant details of the study, we have:

• The construction of a database of 1,045 Amazonian bioenterprises, including characteristics of each enterprise, prioritization of bioenterprises and recommendations for their implementation and value chains, including those that occur in the forest, outside the forest, in Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) and indigenous territories.
• Main advances made by institutions for the development of bioenterprises.
• Number of biobusinesses per country, and their location in indigenous territories or natural protected areas.
• Bioenterprise products and criteria for their prioritization, including handicrafts, fruits, fisheries, honey, cacao, tourism, among others.
• Characteristics of value chains, consolidated or with potential.
• Analysis and main findings of the prioritized bioenterprises.
• Enabling conditions and recommendations for their development.

The presentation closed with a reflection on the key ideas to be recovered, emphasizing that "Bio" is not defined by origin, but by compliance with certain socio-environmental criteria, also associated with clean investment. It also reflected on the importance of making the indigenous contribution to bioenterprises visible, recognizing their ancestral knowledge, as well as the importance of a landscape and gender approach in these activities.

The regional coordination of the Amazonia 2.0 project closed the workshop by thanking the attendees for their presence and participation, and informing them of the forthcoming publication of the document resulting from the work of the consulting team.