DEMONSTRATION ACTIVITIES & AGRODIVERSITY: WHAT …



DEMONSTRATION ACTIVITIES & AGRODIVERSITY: WHAT PLEC AMAZONIA LEARNED IN FIVE YEARS

A FINAL REPORT

Submitted to the People, Land Use and Environmental Change Program (PLEC),

United Nations University (UNU)

United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

Global Environmental Facility (GEF)

Prepared by

Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez[1], David G. McGrath[2] and Tereza Ximenes[3]

March, 2002

Table of Contents

Page

Executive Summary …………………………………………………………….. 5

I. Project Personnel and Funding ………………………………………………. 7

A. The PLEC-Amazonia Team …………………………………………. 7

. B. Leveraging GEF funds ………………………………………………. 8

II. Várzea Environments and Site Selection …………………………………… 8

III. Identifying, understanding, and evaluating locally-developed

production and conservation patterns …………………………………. 12

IV. Expert farmers and demonstrations……………………………………….. 18

V. Evaluation of Demonstration Activities ……………………………………. 19

VI. Demonstration and other capacity building activities ……………………. 23

VII. Agrobiodiversity in a dynamic landscape ………………………………… 25

VIII. Impacts of demonstration activities ………………………………………. 30

A) Impacts on biodiversity levels ……………………………………….. 30

B) Impacts of Household Income ……………………………………….. 33

C) Impacts on Behavior …………………………………………………. 37

List of Tables

Table 1: Communities and institutions of team members

Table 2: Team Members

Table 3: Promising production and conservation practices

Table 4: Systems and techniques demonstrated and promoted by expert farmers

Table 5: Number of conservation practices demonstrated

Table 6: Number of expert farmers, demonstration sites and demonstrated production systems and conservation practices.

Table 7: Number of demonstration activities and farmers participants

Table 8: Systems and techniques demonstrated by expert farmers and modified by participant farmers

Table 9: Number of people trained in the last five years

Table 10: Number of participants in training courses (A) and Number training sessions per social group (B)

Table 11: Changes in agrobiodiversity, number and size of fields.

Table 12: Average species per one ha of managed and unmanaged fallows and forests

Table 13: Biodiversity indicators per land use stages in ribeirinho’s landholdings. All individuals greater than or equal to 2.5 cm were inventoried.

Table 14: Increase in levels of biodiverstiy in the landholdings of 72 ribeirinhos that participated in demonstration activities.

Table 15: Changes in number and area of protected areas from 1998 to 2001/02

Table 16: Changes in adult population of endangered and over-exploited species from 1998 to 2001/02

List of Figures

Fig. 1: Maps of Study Areas

Fig. 2: Variation in species richness among housegardens (2a) and Fallows (2b)

Fig. 3: Avg. number of tree species per ha found in managed and unmanaged young and mature forests.

Fig. 4: Average annual income (US$) from harvesting fruits, construction materials and other products

Fig. 5: Avg. annual income of 34 household that participated in demonstration activities where expert farmers demonstrate the banana emcapoeirada system.

Fig. 6: Avg. tons of banana produced using the banana emcapoeirada system in Amapá.

Fig. 7: Changes in area of fields, managed fallows and forests in the landholdings

Fig. 8: Families that adapted the enriquecimento de capoeira system after participating in demonstration activities

Executive Summary

Over the last five years, the PLEC project in Amazonia worked with a diverse and experienced group of scientists, farmers, students, technicians, and policymakers. The project identified smallholder Amazonian farmers, locally known as ribeirinhos or caboclos, to be developers and practitioners of a rich set of management systems, technologies and practices that incorporate and even enhance biological diversity as part of production. The project also identified several practices and forms of local organization that were directed toward conservation on a local scale. The project identified and monitored processes that are producing changes in the natural and social landscape and sought to understand how ribeirinhos are responding to such changes. We identified agrodiversity and conservation practices that are important resources in ribeirinho response to changes in their natural and social landscape. The resultant agrobiodiversity and other forms of biological diversity found in the landholdings of ribeirinhos are reflections of this technological diversity and these conservation practices.

Since the beginning of the project, PLEC-Amazonia has been working with selected expert farmers, individuals from NGOs, rural extension agencies, local universities, rural unions and environmental agencies. A combination of household surveys following farmers in their daily activities and other in-field activities have helped the PLEC-Amazonia team to identify a group of exceptional “expert farmers”, i.e., those who use biodiversity-enhancing and economically-rewarding production and management technologies. Team members identified, selected and built partnerships with 44 expert farmers in the three varzea sites. Expert farmers work closely with the team composed of 8 field assistants, 7 researchers and 29 students. A total of 136 agricultural, agroforestry and forest management systems and 36 conservation practices that are economically rewarding and biologically friendly were identified. From this total 19 systems and 13 conservation practices were demonstrated by expert farmers. Results of more than five years of work showed that PLEC’s demonstration method of “farmers learning from expert farmers” is an effective and realistic approach to furthering the conservation of biodiversity while enhancing the livelihoods of rural Amazonians.

PLEC-Amazonia emerged in a time when Brazilian society was taking important measures for implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity. PLEC-Amazonia is one of the many projects implemented by governmental and non-governmental agencies that aim to find solutions to the complex problem of biodiversity erosion. While most GEF projects are working in protected areas, PLEC-Amazonia is entirely working outside conventional protected areas. For more than five years, PLEC-Amazonia has tested its demonstration methods in ribeirinho communities located in three Amazonian floodplain sites: Amapá, Santarém and Ilha Marajo.

The processes of exchange of knowledge between expert farmers and participant farmers have been thoroughly documented by members of the team. Agroforestry systems, such as “banana emcapoeirada” that allows farmers to produce bananas despite the ravages of moko disease, is one of several production systems that help farmers, not only to increase biodiversity in their fields, but also to solve problems of disease and pests. Forest management systems that enrich fallows with timbers, fruits and other valuable species have also been demonstrated by expert farmers. Conservation practices, such as the restoration of riparian forests by farm families in Amapá sites, have greatly increased local populations of shrimp and fish and increased household incomes. Similarly, the establishment of lake reserves near the city of Santarém has improved environments and livelihoods. The conversion of degraded pastures and agricultural lands into palm forests on Marajo Island has led to increased production of “acai” fruits and other important economic products. These in turn have boosted household incomes. PLEC-Amazonia has also made major advances in quantifying agrobiodiversity, fish diversity and other forms of biological diversity found in the landholdings of farmers as well as in village lake and forest reserves. Technological diversity is an important and valuable resource for rural Brazilian society in its quest to achieve sustainable development and successfully implement the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity signed in 1992.

I. Project Personnel and Funding

A. The PLEC-Amazonia Team. Many PLEC-Amazonia team members have spent most of their lives looking for ways to promote the enhanced well-being of rural Amazonians while also ensuring that biodiversity and environmental services are conserved for future generations. An important characteristic of the PLEC-Amazonia team is its composition. PLEC-Amazonia is composed of Amazonians, non-Amazonian Brazilians and other nationalities, specialists in anthropology, ecology, agronomy, geography, forestry and sociology. Several of its members, (including the head of the cluster) are the sons and daughters of rural Amazonians. All members of this international, inter-disciplinary team have previously worked in other related projects in several floodplain regions. Included as integral members of the team are the large number of local farmers, or ribeirinhos, and leaders of ribeirinho organizations. The diversity of the team (see Table 1) has helped it to implement PLEC’s complex agenda, including its demonstration activities over the five years of the project.

Table 1: Communities and institutions of team members

|Communities |Brazilian Institutions |Non-Brazilian Institutions |

|Amapá: |IPAM |WHRC |

|Foz de Mazagao |NAEA-UFPA |CERC-COLUMBIA |

|Ajudante |IEPA |NYBG |

|Carbao |EMBERAPA-AMAPA | |

|Mazagao Velho |RURAPE | |

|Lontra Pedreira |I BAMA | |

|Ipixuna Miranda |SEMA | |

|Santo Antonio | | |

|Santarem: | | |

|Aracampina | | |

|Sao José | | |

|Sao Miguel | | |

|Ilha Marajo: | | |

|Jabuti | | |

|Retiro Grande | | |

While the number of researchers and field assistants in the team changed little over the period of GEF funding, the number of expert farmers, students and technicians involved increased substantially (Table 2). The third year of the project saw an especially large expansion of the expert farmer and student members of the team. This increase reflected and made possible a significant expansion of the number of demonstration activities at the three sites.

Table 2: Team Members

|Members |1988 |1999 |2000 |2001/02 |

|Researchers |7 |8 |8 |7 |

|Technicians (field assistants) |5 |7 |8 |8 |

|Students |7 |9 |24 |29 |

|Expert farmers |2 |8 |36 |44 |

B. Leveraging GEF funds. Although GEF-PLEC funds have funded core project activities, approximately 75% of the funds used for implementing PLEC demonstration activities came from other funding sources. Many members of the team found resources in their home institutions as well as funds from governmental and private sources in Brazil and abroad. The availability of money from non-GEF sources greatly help teamed members to devote time to PLEC activities without encountering undue difficulties in their home institutions.

III. Varzea Environment and Site Selection:

PLEC-Amazonia worked and continues working in 234 ribeirinho communities located in three sites of the varzea floodplain ( see Fig. 1). Approximately 55,000 farmers were directly or indirectly affected by PLEC-Amazonia work in the three varzea sites.

PLEC-Amazonia decided to focus its work on varzea environments because historically most of the rural population lived on or near the whitewater floodplains of the Amazon. The varzea provides fish and other critical biological resources to rural and urban Amazonians. Unfortunately, the expansion of buffalo ranching, uncontrolled and destructive timber extraction and other modern unsustainable practices are accelerating the depletion of varzea resources and producing massive migration of ribeirinhos to shanty towns on the periphery of Amazonian cities.

Fig. 1: Maps of Study Areas

The steady loss of population is allowing large-scale cattle ranchers to expand their operations and convert biodiversity-rich varzea habitats to pastures. As a direct impact of changes in land use several important habitats for plant and animal species have been destroyed, and species such as the giant pirarucu fish have become endangered.

Varzea environments are the most dynamic in Amazonia; their natural and social landscapes are constantly changing. The three PLEC sites are located in areas with very different patterns. Landscape configuration, the functioning of the landscapes and ecosystems and the existing biodiversity are controlled by annual floods in Santarém, tidal floods in the estuarine area of Amapá, and rain-induced floods in Marajo.

Differences in the kind, frequency and duration of floods produce clearly differentiated landscapes, ecosystems and biological diversity in the Santarem, Amapa and Marajo sites. For instance, the landscape of Santarém is characterized by wide and shallow lakes. Most of these lakes are totally connected to the main river during flood season and totally disconnected during the dry season. In contrast, the Marajo landscape features no lakes but rather small streams and swamp areas during the dry season, while during the rain season the entire site is flooded. In the estuarine varzea areas of Amapá there are very few and very small lakes, but the landscape is composed of several different kinds of riverine environments and ecosystems. Some of the most common ecosystems are permanently flooded savannas known locally as “campos alagados”. Swamp savannas are very critical environments in the Amapá estuarine varzea because they serve as reproduction and resting grounds for fish, birds, turtles and other wildlife. However, this biologically-rich environment is threatened by the expansion of buffalo ranches.

In the Santarém region, the flood pulse is an important natural driving variable that defines landscape, ecosystem and species diversity. Seasonal variation on the varzea is driven by the twin rhythms of the flood and precipitation regimes. The combination of these patterns results in two distinct seasons, referred to locally as verão (summer), the dry season when water levels are falling, and inverno (winter), the rainy season when water levels are rising. The relatively slow rise and fall have contributed to the evolution of a floodplain flora and fauna adapted to take advantage of both terrestrial and aquatic phases. Many plant species, for example, produce fruits and nuts during the flood season, and many species of fish, birds and wildlife have adapted to take advantage of these resources. Despite the similarity in flood and rain regimes among the three sites, each demonstrates unique and important environmental conditions and ecological processes.

The interaction between the annual flood and precipitation regimes is critical to ribeirinhos in selecting and scheduling their activities. Farmers in all three sites seek to cultivate most crops during the period when river levels are low and rains are relatively light. Production of annual crops is limited largely to the six months between June and December. The relative importance, as noted above, of tidal, seasonal, and rain-induced flooding in the three sites varies greatly.

While ribeirinhos cope well remarkably with the complexities of floods – even Santarem’s 8-meter changes in water level -- it is variations in the timing and intensity of floods and rains that make farming in varzea environments a very risky activity. In Santarém, for example, in years when unexpected rises in the river level (locally known as “repiquetes”) occur during low river level season, agricultural fields can be severely affected and production lost. In low flood years with repiquetes, the production of beans and other annual crops tends to be very low, while the production of cassava and plantains is higher than in years when floods are very high.

Farmers in the Amapá site are affected by periodic but unpredictable high tides known locally as “lançantes”. These produce floods that cover even the high levees of the estuarine varzea. In years with lançantes farmers tend to lose their annual crops and the production of fruits in agroforestry plots and managed forests is greatly reduced. However, during such years shrimp and fish tend to be abundant and these products constitute the main source of household income. In addition, in years when lançantes take place farmers tend to extract more timber from their landholdings. Farmers in Ilha Marajó also expect to lose their annual crops in years when rains are too early or too late. However, they expect during these years to greatly improve the production of palm fruits and other agroforestry crops.

These “trade-offs” show how important biodiversity and “agrodiversity” are in the household economies of ribeirinhos, especially during unusual or unexpected environmental and economic conditions. In all three sites, the diversity of resource use patterns and conservation practices helps ribeirinhos cope with economic uncertainty and extreme changes in flood and rain patterns.

PLEC-Amazonia found that ribeirinhos not only have a large and complex tool-box of management technologies, they keep developing new technologies and using new strategies to produce in a highly risky environment. Riberinho production, management systems and techniques, as well as conservation practices, are not only directed toward short-term economic production but also to maintainance of a wide resource base that allows them to survive. Agrodiversity helps ribeirinhos to “produce to conserve and conserve to produce” in the complex and dynamic environment of the varzea floodplain. The existing agrobiodiversity and other forms of biodiversity found in local landholdings cannot be appreciated without understanding the diversity and sophisticated knowledge and practice that local villagers apply to their reproduction and management. PLEC’s demonstration activities have used and built upon this wealth of knowledge and experience.

III. Identifying, understanding, and evaluating locally-developed production and conservation patterns.

PLEC-Amazonia has built its demonstration activities upon a solid base of knowledge obtained through surveys and inventories. Initial characterizations of the sites were done through household surveys, inventories of biodiversity and land surveys carried out in all sites. Standard methods of landscape ecology were used for understanding patterns of land cover change and variation of biodiversity in space and time. In addition, PLEC members spent time collecting historical and geographic information from local archives. Long interviews and field observations were conducted to understand how ribeirinhos respond to changes and how such changes influence existing biological, cultural and technological diversity. Participant observation methods were employed to record, understand, and evaluate biodiversity-rich production and conservation practices used by ribeirinhos in the three sites.

Through household surveys and extensive interviews and observation, the PLEC-Amazonia team identified and recorded in the database a number of agricultural, agroforestry, and forest management technologies developed and used by ribeirinhos in the three sites. From a sample of 325 households that were surveyed, we identified a total of 136 production and management systems that are biodiversity friendly and economically attractive. The team also identified a total of 36 conservation practices that were effectively employed by ribeirinho households at the three sites (Table 3).

Table 3: Promising production and conservation practices

|Household Surveys |Number of recorded production and management systems and |Number of recorded conservation |

| |techniques |practices |

| | | |

|1998 (130) |72 |11 |

|1999 (115) |43 |16 |

|2000 (60) |9 |5 |

|2001/02 (20) |12 |4 |

PLEC-Amazonia identified and documented many riberinho technologies and conservation practices during the household surveys that employed or encouraged high levels of biodiversity as solutions to production problems. After evaluation and discussion, the team then selected 19 such practices to promote through demonstration activities (Table 4).

Table 4: Systems and techniques demonstrated and promoted by expert farmers

|Production technologies and practices demonstrated |1998 |1999 |2000 |2001/02 |

|Banana Encapoeirada - Agroforestry System |X |X |X |X |

|Madeira em capoeiras - forest management system |X |X |X |X |

|Afastamento - forest management system |X |X |X |X |

|Crescimento de solos - agriculture system |X |X |X |X |

|Mudas em paxubas - agriculture system | |X |X |X |

|Jogo de semente na mata - a system of managing natural regeneration in forests and fallows | |X |X |X |

|Guarda sementes em chimbo - a system for storing seeds | | | | |

|Mandioca na varzea - an agriculture system for the production of less flood tolerant crops | |X |X |X |

|Afastamento - a forest management technique | |X |X |X |

|Sameamento de semente - an agroforestry technique | |X |X |X |

|Producao de mudas em roças - a technique for the production of seedlings in-fields | | |X |X |

|Legumens em hortas - a multi-croping system for the production of vegetables | | |X |X |

|Coleta da flor de açai - an agroforestry technique | | | | |

|Transplante de mudas da mata no quintal - a enrichement agroforestry and forest systems | | |X |X |

|Como usar tucupi para controlar formigas de fogo - a technique for controlling pests using | | |X |X |

|cassava juges | | | | |

|Enraicemento de buriti para formacao de solos - a system for building soils | | |X |X |

|Copas para producao de melancias - an agriculture system for the production of water melon | | |X |X |

|Inga com cipo - an agroforestry system for the production of maracuja and other fruits | | | | |

|Limpa arvore - a forest management technique for managing individual trees | | |X |X |

| | | | | |

| | | | |X |

| | | | |X |

| | | | | |

| | | | |X |

All these demonstrated systems were selected because they provide important sources of income for sample families and help them to maintain high levels of agrobiodiversity in their landholdings. In the first year we focused on four systems as way of testing patterns of exchange of knowledge among farmers. We also were gradually testing the “farmers learning form expert farmers” dissemination method that later was used within the whole PLEC project. The positive response from farmers allowed us to select other systems as part of the demonstration activities. Over the five years PLEC-Amazonia more than quadrupled the number of systems and techniques that are being demonstrated (Table 4).

While it is difficult to differentiate production from conservation activities in ribeirinho societies, PLEC-Amazonia identified some specific conservation practices that concentrated more on resource protection than use. We defined conservation practices as all strategies and management operations used by ribeirinhos for the establishment of household, village or inter-village protected areas or conservation rules regulating access to and use of resources, particularly resources that are over-exploited or endangered. During the last five years PLEC-Amazonia has demonstrated only 13 of the 36 specific documented conservation practices (Table 5).

Table 5: Number of conservation practices demonstrated

|Conservation practices demonstrated |1998 |1999 |2000 |2001/02 |

|1. Toma conta de Ninhais: a conservation practice for the conservation of habitat for |X |X |X |X |

|resident and migratory birds | | | | |

|Moradia de bichos: a conservation practice for the establishment of household reserves |X |X |X |X |

|Restoração de capims nos lagos, a conservation practice for the restoration of meadows in |X |X |X |X |

|lakes | | | | |

|Proteção de tabluleiros, a conservation practice for the conservation of beaches as |X |X |X |X |

|nesting grounds of turtles | | | | |

|Acordos de pesca, a conservation practices for regulating fishing rights in the | |X |X |X |

|communities | |X |X |X |

|Proteção de fruteiras nos lagos, a conservation practices for the enrichment of lake | | | | |

|vegetation with fruit species | | |X |X |

|Proteção dos corpos d’água na seca, a conservation practices for protecting vegetation in | | | | |

|streams and lakes during dry season | | | | |

|Recuperação da mata ciliar, a conservation practices for the conservation and management | | |X |X |

|of ripiaram forests for the production of shrimp and fish | | |X |X |

|Control de timbó, a conservation practice that prohibit the uses of toxic resins for | | | | |

|fishing | | |X |X |

|Proteção de filhos de tatarugas, a conservation practices for the reintroduction of the | | | | |

|endanger giant river turtles in lakes | | |X |X |

|Proteção de buritizal, a conservation practice for the conservation of palm forests | | | | |

|Deixa arvores mães, a conservation practice for protecting seed trees of endangered | | |X |X |

|species in the landholdings and forest | | | | |

|Proteção dos campos alagados, a conservation practice for protecting permanently flooded | | | | |

|savannas from the expansion of buffalo ranches | | | |X |

PLEC-Amazonia integrated only four conservation practices into its demonstration activities at the beginning of the project. The difficulty of monitoring the actual integration of conservation practices and the suspicions that were created among farmers when specific conservation actions were promoted are some of the reasons why the team decided to include few of them as demonstration practices. Currently, most of the 13 demonstrated conservation practices are part of the conservation activities implemented by NGOs and government agencies in the varzeas of Amapa, Santarem and Ilha Marajo.

IV. Expert farmers and demonstrations.

In Amazonia, efforts to modify production and management technologies among smallholders can be traced back to the arrival of the first Europeans. A predominant philosophy guiding past and current extension programs is that farmers must be taught how to farm properly. PLEC-Amazonia began with a different premise. We started by questioning ribeirinhos on how they learn and adapt production and management techniques to their own environments and needs. The great majority told us that they learn by interacting among themselves. PLEC-Amazonia built upon these existing patterns and facilitated a “farmers learning from expert farmers” approach to dissemination of conservationist production practices. PLEC-Amazonia’s demonstration initiative was built upon such existing practices with the goal of disseminating riberinho technologies as well as village and inter-village level conservation practices.

All our demonstration activities are conducted following a model of selecting expert farmers to act as instructors and their fields, fallows, house gardens and forests are used as demonstration sites. PLEC-Amazonia has experienced a steady increase in the number of selected expert farmers, demonstration sites and the techniques and conservation practices demonstrated (Table 6).

Table 6: Number of expert farmers, demonstration sites and demonstrated production systems and conservation practices.

|Components Methodology |1998 |1999 |2000 |2001/02 |

|Expert Farmers |12 |16 |36 |44 |

|Demonstration sites |18 |36 |78 |85 |

|Production systems demonstrated |4 |9 |16 |19 |

|Conservation practices demonstrated |4 |6 |12 |13 |

Expert farmers were selected after an extended process of selection. They included both men and women and included not only experts in agricultural production, but also agroforesters, forest managers, fish and shrimp producers and especially those who can integrate many production types and products in diverse and complex systems. Many production practices integrate both terrestrial and aquatic systems, for instance, expert farmers manage forest stands in order to produce fish.

Most expert farmers were integrated as members of the team and gradually were incorporated by non-governmental and non-governmental agencies as advisers in their conservation and development projects. Seven expert farmers are advising the governor of Amapá on “how to produce to conserve and how to conserve to produce” resources. Several of the production and management systems as well as conservation practices demonstrated by expert farmers have been included as part of rural extension programs by government and non-government agencies in the three sites. In the Santarém site expert farmers are also advising members of NGOs and government institutions on how to establish community-based protected areas. Expert farmers from the village of São Miguel have been consulted by government officials on how to conserve lake resources and on how to enforce community rules that regulate access and uses of lake resources.

V. Evaluation of Demonstration Activities:

The nature and composition of the PLEC-Amazonia team has played a key role in the successful implementation and monitoring of demonstration activities. Local communities have appreciated the inclusion of expert farmers in the team and have interacted more favourably with other members of the team when expert farmers have accompanied them. The selection of field assistants from villages has also played a key role in advancing the exchange of technologies and germplasm during and after demonstration activities. Also, the participation of local researchers, who have roots in rural communities, has aided in negotiations and the establishment of partnerships with the selected expert farmers.

The integration of expert farmers into all phases of demonstration activities helped us identify several specific approaches. Initially, the team planned to conduct demonstration activities as part of encontros, which are community or inter-community meetings where village related problems, including the ones affecting production and conservation of resources are discussed. The team’s expert farmers suggested that demonstration activities be conducted using two other forms of social gatherings. The first, called miutirao, are shared labor groups organized by members of households to help each other with activities like making fields, planting and other production or management activities. The second type are visitas, which are typically gatherings of families or close friends. In all three events expert farmers are the leading figures and are the ones who invite participants to visit demonstration sites. The dynamic created by expert farmers greatly help to adverse demonstration activities among in the villages located in and the neighbouring regions of the three PLEC sites. The numbers of ribeirinho participants in demonstration activities have increased greatly during the five years of the project (Table 7).

Table 7: Number of demonstration activities and farmers participants

|Demonstration Activities |Avg. |Avg. |Avg. |

| |Number per year |Participants per year |Participants per event |

| | | | |

|Econtros |15 |975 |72 |

| | | | |

|Muitiraos |104 |1890 |19 |

| | | | |

|Visitas |82 |1240 |21 |

Most farmers who participated in demonstration activities have begun testing the techniques that they learned from the expert farmers and observed in demonstration sites. PLEC-Amazonia found that ribeirinhos do not copy the production technologies and conservation practices from the expert farmers. Instead they combine these ideas with their own and create new and original systems and techniques. PLEC-Amazononia is also finding that ribeirinhos tend to incorporate learned production and management technologies only after a long process of experimentation. We found that the trial and error approach employed by farmers to test technologies and crops is increasing the diversity of technologies used through the modification of demonstrated techniques and systems. For instance, during the five years that we demonstrated the four first production systems, the participant farmers developed multiple new systems based on the four demonstrated systems and what they learned from the expert farmers from the Amapá site (Table 8).

Table 8: Systems and techniques demonstrated by expert farmers and modified by participant farmers

|Demonstrated techniques |Objective |Recommended techniques |Main vegetative components |

| | | | |

|1) Banana emcapoeirada |Managing Moko |Sororoca- pariri – |1) açai – Banana |

|agroforestry system |disease in bananas |banana | |

| | | |2) fruteiras-banana |

| | | |3) madeira-banana |

| | | |4) combinations of the above with banana |

|2) Building up soils |Production of |Keep sediments and |1) use of logs rather than fences |

|above tide level |cassava and other |organic matter from | |

| |crops less tolerant|eroding during high | |

| |to tidal flooding |tides (lançantes) using | |

| | |fences | |

| | | |2) placing palm leaves around the highest sections of the |

| | | |field |

| | | |3) accumulation of soils around tree trunks |

| | | |4) accumulation of wood residues from saw mills |

| | | | |

|3) Enriching fallows |Production of |Thinning and removal of |1) thinning- planting |

| |fruits and timber |vines | |

| | | |2) removal of vines – broadcasting seeds |

| | | |3) thinning –broadcasting seeds |

| | | |4) combining all above |

|4) Managing forests |Production of |Removal of vines and |1) gaps – broadcasting seed |

| |fruits, timber and |formation of gaps | |

| |medicinals |(clareras) | |

| | | |2) removal of vines – transplanting seedlings along trails |

| | | |3) gap formation – managing of seed dispersal during high |

| | | |tide |

| | | |4) combinations of the above techniques |

PLEC-Amazonia demonstration activities conducted in the three PLEC sites have helped farmers and communities to find solutions to specific problems. For instance, farmers from the three sites who participated in demonstration activities have applied the enrichment and other systems to restore land degraded by buffalo and other extensive land-use activities. The application of demonstrated techniques is helping farmers from Santarém to recuperate the fertility of levee soils by planting murin grasses. Similarly, farmers from all three sites are enriching their house gardens with species that are flood tolerant and produce fruit that are the main source of food for fish during flood periods and for agouties and other wild life. Since the implementation of enrichment systems there has been a major increase in fruits, timber and other resources in the landholdings of ribeirinhos. Similarly, the recovery of soil fertility in degraded lands by planting murin grass have let to the increase of the production of beans and other annual crops that is helping farmers to increase their household income.

Another important result of demonstration activities is the planning and execution of collective actions in the communities that aim to restore degraded vegetation around lakes as well as floating meadows. For instance, farmers from the villages located in Ilha Ituqui have successfully restored lake vegetation in their communities. Similarly, farmers from Ilha Marajo had enlarged and diversified their agroforestry sites. Perhaps the most relevant result of collective or community actions that emerged as a result of demonstration activities is the establishment of family, village or inter-village lake and forest reserves in the three PLEC sites. Farmers have used these reserves for the protection and reproduction of endangered, over-exploited or rare wildlife, birds and plant species. Some of the most relevant results of these activities is the reintroduction of the giant river turtle in the lakes of the communities in Ilha Ituqui from Ilha Sao Miguel. In Amapá farmers protected and managed the resting and reproduction grounds of migratory and resident aquatic birds locally known as “ninhaes”.

Farmers participation in demonstration activities was greatly facilitated by keeping a very flexible structure and direction of demonstration activities. For instance, excessive formality in establishing partnerships with expert farmers limited the success of demonstration activities at the beginning of the project. We learned that exchange of most knowledge and experiences among farmers takes place in an informal environment.

Based on the success of the demonstration activities conducted in the three sites, PLEC-Amazonia organized demonstration activities at the regional level. Four regional demonstration activities were successfully conducted in the three sites. Ribeirinhos from varzea regions as far as Peru participated in these events. Residents from protected areas such as the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve also participated in regional demonstration activities.

VI. Demonstration and other capacity building activities.

Beginning in the second year of the project PLEC-Amazonia conducted demonstration activities for youths at community based “family schools” and other publicly run schools in and near the PLEC sites. Over the last two years a series of demonstration activities for rural extension agents, students from Amazonian universities, researchers and politicians were successfully conducted. Demonstration activities such as visits to demonstration sites, sessions with expert farmers and data collection were an important component of student training over the five years. PLEC-Amazonia trained more undergraduate students from Amazonian universities than graduate students (Table 9).

Table 9: Number of people trained in the last five years

|Students |BA |MA |Brazilian |Foreign |

|Theses | | |PhD |PhD |

| | | | | |

|Santarém |6 |2 |2 |2 |

|Amapá |36 |5 |4 |2 |

|Marajo |15 |3 |1 |0 |

|Total |57 |10 |6 |4 |

PLEC-Amazonia also organized training activities for supervisors working in environmental agencies, rural extension agents, politicians and researchers. The training activities included: on-farm training based on visits to demonstrations sites, sessions with expert farmers and the carrying out of household surveys and in-field observations, weeklong training sessions in field methods and data analysis, including how to organize a database; and workshops. The majority of the training activities were organized for rural extension agents and supervisors (Table 10). Since the PLEC’s demonstration method is field oriented we conducted more on-farm training activities than other types (Table 10).

Table 10: Number of participants in training courses (A) and Number training sessions per social group (B)

Table 10A

| |No of participants On-farm |No of participants week long |No of participants |

|Groups |training |sessions |Workshops |

|Supervisors |14 |38 |22 |

|Extension agents |52 |36 |44 |

|Politicians |11 |14 |27 |

|Researchers |7 |4 |42 |

Table 10B

| |No of on-farm training per |No of week long sessions per |No of workshops per |

|Groups |participant group |participant group |participant group |

|Supervisors |12 |12 |5 |

|Extension agents |22 |15 |3 |

|Politicians |3 |2 |9 |

|Researchers |2 |2 |19 |

Based on the results of these experiences we plan to expand training activities to other regions of Amazonia as part of the new phase of PLEC in Amazonia. As part of training we will participate in curriculum writing for undergraduates, technical schools, high schools and schools in the villages. Our plan is to test how the PLEC-Amazonia demonstration model can be expanded to train technicians and other people working in rural extension and conservation programs.

VII. Agrobiodiversity in a dynamic landscape: PLEC-Amazonia continued monitoring changes in agrodiversity throughout the five years that are reported on here. The picture of the varzea as a very dynamic environment was confirmed and these data were stored in the database as part of project reporting.

Although data were collected for only five years, we can clearly see trends in the levels of agrobiodiversity that is produced, managed and conserved by the residents of the three varzea sites. Farmers in the sites are continually responding to environmental and socio-economic changes by varying what they plant, manage and conserve. For instance farmers are responding to market changes in grains, banana and other staple crops by increasing the diversity of species and varieties of crops in their fields. Agrobiodiversity inventories conducted in the fields of 40 expert farmers showed an increase in the number of species and crops planted from to 2001 (Table 11).

Table 11: Changes in agrobiodiversity, number and size of fields.

|Categories |1998 |2001 |

|Species planted by the 40 sampled families |18 |33 |

|Varieties planted by the 40 sampled families |49 |72 |

|Avg. Number fields made by the 40 sampled farmers |3 |1 |

|Avg. size of fields made by the 40 sampled farmers |2.8 |0.5 |

In the same period the residents of the three sites made fewer and smaller fields (Table 11). By planting more species and varieties of crops in their small fields ribeirinhos were responding to the loss of markets fortheir Amazonian goods as the products of agroindustries in Southern Brazil flood the markets of Amazonian cities with cheap and high quality rice, beans, corns and other staple crops. Thus local farmers increased agrobiodiversity and reduced field number and size. Although the residents of the three sites are not able to compete with the large agroindustries, they are introducing to the market new and fresh products. For instance, we observed that farmers brought large number of species and varieties of spices, fruits, roots, grains and other products that are not sold in the supermarkets.

Rural Amazonians are planting and managing large numbers of fruit, timber, medicinals and other tree crops in their house gardens, fallows and forests. Results of inventories (all individuals with dbh greater than or equal to 2.4cm) conducted in 20 ha of managed fallows and 20 of unmanaged fallows showed a larger number of species in managed fallows than in unmanaged fallows (Table 12). Similar variation were found when managed and unmanaged forests were inventoried (all trees with dbh greater than or equal to 10cm) in the landholdings of 48 families (Table 12).

Table 12: Average species per one ha of managed and unmanaged fallows and forests

|Management Regime |FALLOW |FOREST |

|Unmanaged |41 |55 |

|Managed |72 |84 |

The general trend observed and reflected in the biodiversity inventory data is that smallholders tend to increase levels of biodiversity as part of a strategy to increase the number of outputs available in the fallows and forests. The aggregated use-values explain the differences in species composition among managed and un-managed fallows and forest. Based on these and other results, we found that despite widespread assumptions to the contrary, ribeirinhos, are increasing rather than reducing levels of biodiversity in varzea environements.

Diverse and complex agroforestry and forest management systems are continually developed by rural Amazonians to change the composition and structure of forests and fallows. Such transformation of the vegetation and innovation of technologies is facilitated by the increased value of forest and fallow products in the markets. Many farmers manage and extract some timbers and conduct pre-harvest operations to avoid excessive damage to the forests, thus enhancing production. Ribeirinhos tend to remove vines a least three months before cutting a tree for timber. In addition, farmers broadcast seeds or plant seedlings of valuable species in areas where timber was extracted. In all three sites farmers are making small openings (clareiras) in their fallows for planting semi-perennial species such as bananas.

PLEC-Amazonia found that the forest areas that are part of the landholdings of smallholders reflect successive management operations that begin at the field stage and continue into fallow and forest stages. Under this Amazonian land use system agriculture, agoforestry and forest activities are closely linked and difficult to differentiate. Expert farmers explained on several occasions that this integrated and multi-phased system allows them to produce and conserve resources in varzea environments. By understanding the farmer’s logic of production PLEC-Amazonia managed to look beyond the use-values of biodiversity and incorporate various ecological values particularly the multiple functions of maintaining healthy and productive varzea ecosystems and landscapes.

The patterns of spatial and temporal variation in agrobiodiversity and other forms of biological diversity are clearly shown by such multi-stage land use system practiced by the varzea residents. The fallows, forests and house gardens of expert farmers and other selected farmers contain a great diversity of herbs, shrubs, vines, grasses and tree species. Biodiversity indices estimated for selected forests, fallows and house gardens show that ribeirinhos maintain biodiversity rich landholdings (Table 13).

Table 13: Biodiversity indicators per land use stages in ribeirinho’s landholdings. All individuals greater than or equal to 2.5 cm were inventoried.

|Land use stages |Number of samples |Avg. sample size (ha) |Avg. # individuals |Avg. # species |Shannon Index (H’) |

|Fallows |110 |0.3 |1108 |69 |0.92 |

|Forests |22 |1.5 |862 |105 |1.05 |

|House gardens |125 |0.5 |743 |53 |1.16 |

Based on the estimated diversity indices, fallows have higher values (H’= 0.92) than do forests and house gardens. The presence of a large number of semi-perennial crops such as banana, yams, pineapples and others is one of the reasons why managed fallows are richer than other land-use units. In addition, inventory data showed that people maintain a low number of individuals of several non-commercial species to create habitat for wildlife particularly agoutis and several species of land birds. While the levels of biodiversity in fields, fallows and forests are strongly dependent on the intensity and frequency of production and management technologies, the number of species in house gardens depends more on its uses. For example, house gardens that are composed of orchards, nurseries and gardens have a greater number of species than the ones that are composed of only one of the above field types.

PLEC-Amazonia found great variation in agrobiodiversity and other forms of biological diversity produced, managed or conserved by smallholders. Each riberinho’s landholdings contain different numbers of species and density of individuals. Such diversity is an important resource for PLEC demonstration activities. One of the advantages is that farmers not only see the use-values of biodiversity but also its multi-functionality in the ecosystem and landscape. PLEC-Amazonia found that the presence of several pioneer species in fallows and house gardens are mainly playing the role of controlling light intensity for the regeneration and growth of several shade tolerant species. In addition, the management of fallows is critical to the composition and structure of forests. House gardens are some of the most important sources of germplasm and are places with enormous conservation value because most of them contain individuals of tropical cedar and other over-exploited species. Managing fallows, house garden and forest vegetation for income and for ecological services explains why riberinho landholdings contain high levels of biodiversity in contrast to other uses such as ranching.

Species richness estimated for a sample of fallows and house gardens showed ribeirinho landholdings are very diverse (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Variation in species richness among housegardens (2a) and Fallows (2b)

Fallows and house gardens with low values have high densities of one species such as açai in the case of Amapa,and Ilha Marajo, and mango trees in the case of Santarem. PLEC-Amazonia selected the house gardens and fallows with high values of species richness as demonstration sites. The owners of the species-rich fallows and house gardens were also, in most cases, selected as expert farmers. By quantifying the levels of biodiversity in the landholdings, PLEC-Amazonia recognized smallholders as stewards of biodiversity in varzea environments. Results of the inventories and field observations helped PLEC-Amazonia to look at biodiversity beyond a simple summation of numbers, and understand its economic and ecological meaning for ribeirinhos. Access to species rich house gardens, fallows and forests helps ribeirinhos to conduct enrichment planting and restoration of areas that were degraded by cattle ranchers and other social groups. Available biodiversity in demonstration sites and technologies developed by expert farmers facilitated the selection and implementation of demonstration activities.

VIII. Impacts of demonstration activities:

Although the results are still preliminary, PLEC demonstration activities had major impacts on household income and other aspects of the livelihood of riberenhos. PLEC activities also increased local appreciation for the agrodiversity and specific technologies used by ribeirinhos by functionaries in governmental and non-governmental agencies. In addition, results of demonstration activities are changing how experts, politicians and other decision making groups define conservation and development in varzea environments and communities. For instance, politicians are appreciating the link between biodiversity and the livelihoods of rural populations. The following are some of the major impacts that PLEC-Amazonia is monitoring and evaluating:

A) Impacts on biodiversity levels: An increase on the levels of agrobiodiversity and other forms of biological diversity in the landholdings of ribeirinhos is one of the main impact produced by the demonstration activities conducted in the last five years. The adoption and adaptation of farming technologies and conservation practices demonstrated by expert farmers are having direct impacts the number of species and varieties that are produced, managed and conserved by smallholders in the three PLEC sites. Results from biodiversity inventories conducted in the landholdings of farmers that participated in demonstration activities show an increase in number of species and varieties as a result of the application of the techniques learned from expert farmers (Table 14).

Table 14: Increase in levels of biodiverstiy in the landholdings of 72 ribeirinhos that participated in demonstration activities.

|Land Use Type |1998 |2001/02 |

| |Species Varieties |Species Varieties |

|Fields |45 |83 |

|Fallows |39 |92 |

|Forests |95 |134 |

|House gardens |22 42 |46 92 |

The 72 sample ribeirinho family were selected among the participants on demonstration activities where expert farmers demonstrated the 19 selected production and management systems.

An exchange of germplasm among expert farmers and participant farmers has facilitated the increase of agrobiodiversity in the landholdings. In addition, participant farmers incorporated new species in their landholdings (particularly from the forests) during the implementation of the systems learned from expert farmers.

Another important impact of the promotion of biologically friendly and economicaly rewarding ribeirinho technologies is the enrichment of young and old forests with valuable species, including the over-exploited tropical cedar. Forest inventories conducted in a sample of 15 ha of managed young and old forests and in an equal sample area of unmanaged young and mature forests owned by 48 families, showed a higher number of species in managed as compared to unmanaged forests (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3: Avg. number of tree species per ha found in managed and unmanaged young and mature forests.

The implementation of PLEC demonstration activities have also major impact on the conservation of varzea resources. Results of demonstrating conservation practices have increased the number of areas protected by villagers (Table 15).

Table 15: Changes in number and area of protected areas from 1998 to 2001/02

|Protected areas |1998 |2001/02 |

| |Number Area (ha) |Number Area (ha) |

| | | |

|Family forest reserves |68 |260 |

|Village & Inter-village reserves | | |

|Lakes |305 |940 |

|Forests |4 212 |14 507 |

Visits to protected areas that were organized as part of demonstration activities have helped to disseminate the experience of expert farmers and successful villages in protecting and restoring varzea environments and resources. The establishment of family and village reserves is helping to restore the population of several over-exploited and endangered species. For instance, in a sampled of 9 lake reserves the adult population of the endangered giant pirarucu fish (more than 1.5 m size) and giant river turtle (more than 45 kg.) have greatly increased in 2001.02 in comparison to 1998 (Table 16). Similarly, the average number of juveniles per ha of the over-exploited tropical cedar and virola have increased in the sample of 15 forests reserves (Table 16).

Table 16: Changes in adult population of endangered and over-exploited species from 1998 to 2001/02

|Species |1998 |2001/02 |

|Giant pirarucu fish (endangered) |32 |170 |

|Giant river turtle (endangered) |19 |220 |

|Tropical cedar |24 |72 |

|Virola tree |18 |125 |

The impact of demonstration activities on conservation, management and production of biodiversity was recognized by local authorities and members of non-governmental institutions operating in the three sites.

B) Impacts of Household Income: The adoption and adaptation of farming technologies and conservation practices demonstrated by expert farmers are having direct impacts on household economies and livelihoods. In the three PLEC sites farmers are making more money by practicing technologies taught by expert farmers. The assimilation or adaptation of the “enriquecimento de capoeira agroforestry system”, for instance, has had a distinct impact on the household economy of ribeirinhos. Based on data collected and analyzed for a sampled of 32 families who are practicing the enriquecimento de capoeira system, their income more than tripled from 1999 to 2001/02 (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Average annual income (US$) from harvesting fruits, construction materials and other products

Note: From 68 managed fallows owned by 32 families that participated in demonstration activities where the enriquecimento de capoeira forest system was demonstrated by the expert farmer. Average was estimated from data collected between January 1999 and January 2001.

An increase in household incomes creates a major impact upon their neighbors. In the three PLEC sites most ribeirinhos consider fallows to be unproductive therefore they never expected to earn money by managing them. However, this perception is gradually changing after expert farmers demonstrated the enriquecimento de capoeira system. The participant ribeirinhos in demonstration activities are learning that by practicing the enriquecimento de capoeira system fallows can produce a large number of products. Before the system was demonstrated by the expert farmer most farmers extracted the fruits of açai palms and some construction materials from their fallows. The enrichment system learned from the expert farmers allows them to produce several fruits, medicinals and even timber in their fallows.

The promotion of the banana emcapoeirada agroforest system has also had a major impact on the household incomes of ribeirinhos in the PLEC sites. Data collected from a sample of 34 families shows an increase of more than 7 times in their income from selling bananas that are produced in their agroforestry fields using the banana emcapoeirada system (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Avg. annual income of 34 household that participated in demonstration activities where expert farmers demonstrate the banana emcapoeirada system.

The demonstrated agroforestry system is helping farmers to produce banana by managing the Moko disease rather than by trying to eliminating it. In addition, farmers are increasing the levels of agrobiodiversiy and other forms of biodiversty in their landholdings by producing bananas in agroforest plots rather than in agricultural fields. By increasing agrobiodiversity, farmers are also augmenting the numbers of products for their consumption and the market. For instance, we recorded that the 34 sample families are making a considerable amount of cash by selling bananas, sugar cane, yams, palm leaves and other products that are harvested from their agroforestry fields. The banana emcapoeirada agroforest system is also helping farmers create and maintain habitat for large rodents such as agoutis and capybaras. These large rodents and other wildlife constitute an important source of protein for ribeirinhos.

The promotion of the banana emcapoeirada system has also had major impacts on a regional scale by increasing the production of bananas. Data collected in Amapá show a major increase in the production of banana from the region since the banana emcapoeirada system was promoted in demonstration activities by the expert farmers (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Avg. tons of banana produced using the banana emcapoeirada system in Amapá.

The Amapá varzea region was the main center for banana production in Amazonia until moko disease destroyed all banana plantation approximately 15 years ago. For instance, banana production in the state of Amapá in the late 1970s averaged 150 tons/month. Since moko disease appeared in the early 1980s production declined to an average of 16 tons per month. Currently we registered that the average monthly production of bananas is more than 90 ton per month, which nearing pre- moko disease levels.

C) Impacts on Behavior: PLEC-Amazonia’s demonstration activities have impacted on the behavior of farmers, extension agents, politicians and other social groups in relation to varzea environments and biodiversity. For instance, the promotion of expert ribeirinho technologies is changing the patterns of land use among smallholders in the three sites (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7: Changes in area of fields, managed fallows and forests in the landholdings

Note: Sample of 78 farmers who participated in demonstration activities where the natural regeneration system was demonstrated by the expert farmer. The average property was 28 ha which include managed and managed areas of fallows and forests.

Ribeirinhos are making smaller and fewer fields and managing their fallows and forests more for the production of a variety of products. By converting their landholdings into forested agroforestry plots and managed forest areas farmers are increasing habitats for wildlife, fish, shrimp and other organisms. In addition, there are lest forest areas that are converted in agriculture fields therefore lest burning of the slash vegetation reducing the levels of CO2 in the air.

The promotion of economically rewarding and biodiversty-friendly systems has also impacted in the number of farmers engaged on sustainable uses of varzea biodiversity. For instance, the promotion of the enriquecimento de capoira system is increasing the number of ribeirinhos families adapting this biodiversity-friendly and economic rewarding enrichment system. Since the system was demonstrated by the expert farmer, the majority of farmers from the three PLEC sites are practicing it. Based on data collected from monitoring 300 sample families that participated in demonstration activities the majority have adopted the system (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8: Families that adapted the enriquecimento de capoeira system after participating in demonstration activities.

Note: The number were recorded from a sample of 300 households that are monitored since 1999.

The majority of farmers who adapted the enriquecimento de capoeira system in 1999 were close friends and family members of the expert farmer. When their neighbors saw that they were making money they quickly adopted the demonstrated system. Currently almost all of the 300 sample families are managing their fallows and producing a variety of valuable products for their consumption and the market.

PLEC-Amazonia work has also major impacts on conservation and development agencies. For instance, the model of environmental education programs conducted as part of demonstration activities by PLEC members in Santarém has been adopted by governmental and non-governmental agencies. Similarly, government agencies in the state of Amapá are adopting the demonstration model for conducting rural extension. PLEC-Amazonia had also impacted on how politicians think to develop rural Amazonia. Members of the team are know consulted by politicians and government officials on development and conservation issues that affect bioidversity and the livelihood of rural populations. For instance, PLEC-Amazonia has presented several proposals to politicians and experts proposing smallholder technologies and conservation practices as a basis for development and conservation activities in varzea communities.

PLEC-Amazonia had also impacted on the academic and research community. Projects results were published in several scientific and popular articles. Following are some of the ones that have had a major impact on the public.

• Pinedo-Vasquez, M; D.J. Zarin, K. Coffey, C. Padoch & F. Rabelo. 2001. Post boom logging in Amazonia. Human Ecology, vol. 29 (2):219-239.

• Zarin, D; V.F.G. Pereira, H. Raffles, F. Rabelo, M. Pinedo-Vasquez & R.G. Congalton. 2001. Landscape change in tidal floodplains near the mouth of the Amazon River. Forest Ecology and Management 154: 383-393.

• Padoch C; M. Ayres, M. Pinedo & A. Henderson (eds.). 1998. Varzea: Diversity, Conservation and Development. Advances in Economic Botany 13. New York Botanical Garden Press.

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[1] Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC), Columbia University

[2] Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia, Belém, PA

[3] Nucleo de Altos Estudos Amazonicos (NAEA), Universidade Federal de Para

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