Since economic resources were insufficient to support family members previously, Marcelo said, communities that used to safeguard these territories resorted to logging prized wood and renting out their lands to agriculture work to feed and support their families. The project provides the families with enough money for three meals a day and to send their children to school.
Impacts and data on forest cover and health were not collected during the latest assessment of the pilot project in November , which focused on qualitative impacts. The idea is to instead let people decide for themselves how to best use the money. For the moment, while the pilot project is being carried out, the exact locations of the communities are kept hidden for security purposes. The three communities live in an area of the Amazon rainforest covering hectares 1, acres of communal territory containing an estimated , trees that sequester , tons of carbon.
The first and second internal assessment of the pilot showed the communities used the cash transfers for food, medical care, education and investment in farming. Traditionally, most families made ends meet by planting crops like rice, cassava yuca , coffee, cocoa, corn and bananas on small plots of land for subsistence and income.
The women gathered food and resources from the forest while the men went hunting or fishing. But with increased wildfires and climate change impacts like droughts, diseases and pests, it was not possible to live the traditional way.
A few women are using the additional income to start small communal businesses in weaving and jewellery, create plant nurseries, reforest and care for water sources. The crafts, purses, earrings and necklaces they make are to sell to visitors outside the community for extra income.
