We hand distill essential oils in the Amazon of Peru: Amazonian plants grown, harvested, and transformed by Amazonian people.
Other products in development include Amazonian vanilla, wild cacao, and native stingless bee honey.
CV's brand, Moena Botanicals, is now Live!
〰️ Click for our Web Store 〰️
CV's brand, Moena Botanicals, is now Live! 〰️ Click for our Web Store 〰️
Motivation
The key drivers of global deforestation are economic, and the Amazon is no exception in this. Amazonian people cut trees for timber and clear forests for farms for one reason: in order to generate income. It is not that markets demand deforestation. Rather, markets demand products derived from deforestation.
An abundance of promising species that are also demanded by markets exists in the forests of the Amazon, and some studies suggest that on a per-hectare basis, the sum total value of all the fruits, medicines, and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is greater than the value of the timber extracted from the same forest, or the crops harvested from a slashed, burnt parcel.
But farmers commonly lack access to markets for the great majority of the NTFPs they manage or grow. Also, most species require post-harvest processing to reach their full potential. History shows that lack of market access and processing equipment are bottlenecks that can be overcome. This program operates under the premise that unlocking the potential of NTFPs to give value to living forests is one of the most promising development strategies rooted in forest conservation.
Purpose
The NTFP Production Program is meant to:
Create opportunities for Amazonian communities to earn income through reforestation and sound ecological management of forest resources
Support the growth of transparent, economically viable supply chains for NTFPs with the potential to act as incentives for forest conservation in producer communities
Research and develop novel and underutilized NTFPs and build commercial alliances for their sale and promotion
The NTFP Program consists of:
Distillation of Essential Oils: at 2 workshops in 2 regions of the Peruvian Amazon, we distill for production and experimentally
Artisanal Soap Production: adding value to a variety of Amazonian base oils and aromatics
Native Melipona Beekeeping: this pilot phase includes research on honey and pollen production from 7 species of meliponas
Amazonian Vanilla Production: this pilot phase includes intensive cultivation areas and diversified native vanilla agroforestry systems
Product Sales: on local, national, and international markets via our brand Moena Botanicals (online store now live!)
This program is implemented at the following centers:
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