Joining forces to preserve our forests

Through the Amazonia 2.0 project, the International Union for Conservation of Nature in South America (IUCN-Sur) is partnering with the collective A Concertation for the Amazon.

Strategic partnerships are extremely relevant for the Amazonia 2.0 project to achieve its goals and objectives. One example of this is A2.0's association with the collective A Concertation for the Amazon, a network that brings together over 500 leaders from the public and private sectors, academia, civil society and the press who have come together in search of proposals and projects for the forest and the people who live in the region.

Since March, the technical coordinator of the Amazonia 2.0 project in Brazil, Carolle Alarcon, has been taking part in the meetings of the Bioeconomy Working Group and the Subgroup formed for the organization of the Amazon Bioeconomy Investment Innovation Forum (F2iBAM). This approach is a result of the strategic approach of the A2.0 project, for its last year of implementation, to identify potential products and services from the intervention territories and leverage actions that promote their commercialisation and/or investment.

The Concertation arises from the need to amplify voices and create an environment where different initiatives meet, promote synergies and increase their impact. The collective is organized into eight WGs: Bioeconomy, Narratives and Engagement of the Private Sector, in which IUCN-Sur participates; as well as Youth, Land Use Planning, Land Regularisation; Political Intelligence and Education and Culture.

According to Inaiê Santos, facilitator of the Bioeconomy WG, "it was born motivated by the existence of different interpretations on the subject in the context of the Amazon, and by its implications for sustainable business models and public policies that the group seeks to strengthen. The focus is to expand the impact of the bioeconomy, valuing the socio-biodiversity of Brazil, especially the Amazon". To this end, the group proposes to promote the articulation of networks of entrepreneurs, financiers, public managers, local and business leaders, among others.

One of the main actions planned under the scope of the WG for this year is the second edition of the Amazon Bioeconomy Investment Innovation Forum, scheduled to take place in December. In the first edition of the event, held in 2021 in virtual format, a broad approach to the universe of investments and the Amazonian bioeconomy was chosen. In the conception process, it was essential to recognize the various types of bioeconomy and business models that present, consequently, different demands for financing, investments and public policies. The second edition will address and direct the general theme from the perspective of diversities. The project Amazonia 2.0 in Brazil is one of the supporters of the event organization.