The following information can be found at Television Trust for the Environment http://www.tve.org

Coconuts to Cars - Brazil
- January 2003 -
Introduction
The Amazon Basin is perhaps the largest and best known region of tropical rainforest in the world, spreading across Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia. The forest is a place of global importance and home to a wide variety of natural resources.
Many people living in the Amazon Basin are poor. They rely on the forest for alternatives to timber. Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) such as nuts, fruits, oils and resins provide income but have traditionally been harvested using unsustainable methods. The ability to market these Amazonian products successfully, taking into account consumer preferences for sustainable production, can make a big difference in improving the livelihoods of rural communities.
Bolsa Amazonia is a regional programme for the Amazon Basin countries, dedicated to sustainable development of the region's communities and conservation of the natural resources. Created in 1998 in partnership with BIOTRADE, it is an initiative of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and POEMA, the Brazilian programme on poverty and environment in the Amazon Basin.
The Bolsa Amazonia Projects
The objective of the Bolsa Amazonia programme is to promote sustainable use of Amazonian natural resources, while reducing poverty among indigenous people. Products are promoted that give producers and processors improved incomes, and consumers get a product that is guaranteed environmentally friendly.
The programme is currently active in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia and is expanding to Peru and Venezuela. Bolsa Amazonia has established close links with communities, the private sector and governments through partnerships that foster community development and ecological conservation in the region.
The programme works with forest communities in production right through to the marketing of products. This includes improved methods of cultivation and production, small-scale processing, capacity building, training, provision of technical and marketing information, and the identification of suitable markets.
Training is provided in:

• Marketing, including business planning, costing, packaging and forecasting
• Processing fish, banana and dairy products, including hygiene and safety
• Organisation and management, including co-operatives, administration and accounting
• Sustainable resource use - sustainable agriculture, subsistence cropping, seed production, and cultivation and collection of forest products.

Marketing Products
The Bolsa Amazonia programme builds linkages between small-scale producers and buyers of Amazonian products that would otherwise be very difficult. Without these linkages, processors have nowhere to market their products, consumers are unaware of goods that are available and product harvesting remains unsustainable. Amazonian products are marketed under the fair trade, organic and natural banners to meet consumer demand. To reach these markets, strict production and processing guidelines are followed and commercial promotion is necessary. Bolsa Amazonia organises marketing training for processors and helps to advertise and promote the products.
A marketing information system database known as SIMBA has been developed to represent producers, processors and national and international businesses interested in Amazon products. The 'supply and demand' database informs buyers about who is producing what, and where, and is a starting point for companies who are interested in doing business. Approximately 350 products, 100 buyers and 100 producers are registered on the SIMBA database.
Many different products are registered on the database, divided into categories:

• raw materials, including fruits and seeds
• handicrafts
• paper
• cosmetics
• oils
• natural medicines
• coconut fibre products
• processed foods, including fruit pulps, fruit juice, flour and honey.