亚马逊社区生态中心

亚马逊雨林是世界上动植物最集中的地区。它也是数百个土著群体和数以万计的其他在森林中生活的人的家园。亚马逊面临的最大挑战和机遇是改变影响其水、土地、植物、动物和人类的发展愿景。目前的模式促进了大宗商品的生产。新的模式需要着重于维持人类和其他生物群落的多样性。为亚马逊创造可持续未来的一条重要途径是加强其传统社区。有强大的c…阅读更多亚马逊雨林是世界上动植物最集中的地区。它也是数百个土著群体和数以万计的其他在森林中生活的人的家园。亚马逊面临的最大挑战和机遇是改变影响其水、土地、植物、动物和人类的发展愿景。目前的模式促进了大宗商品的生产。新的模式需要着重于维持人类和其他生物群落的多样性。为亚马逊创造可持续未来的一条重要途径是加强其传统社区。那些具有强烈的文化认同感、对自己的土地有可靠的控制、对自己的资源有充分的了解、并在发展当地经济方面建立公平伙伴关系的人，将是雨林的坚定捍卫者，造福于我们所有人。亚马逊群落生态中心的使命是促进对亚马逊地区人类和其他生物群落的了解、保护和可持续发展。我们的主要目标是:研究热带森林产品的生态学、可持续采伐和营销。 2. Assist forest-based peoples to sustain local resources and strengthen their communities. 3. Help connect Amazon communities with partners in the U.S. and elsewhere to support forest conservation and other local development goals. Strategies The main strategies for achieving our goals are research, community support, and education. This will include investigating the ecology and sustainable harvest of non-timber forest products (like resins, fruits and fibers) and assisting indigenous and other forest-based communities to manage and market them to support local development and conservation. This will require reaching out to and connecting many people and communities in the Amazon and abroad. The Center promotes conservation and development that will sustain diverse human and other biological communities in the Amazon region. We specifically wish to improve the understanding of Amazon ecology, help strengthen the region's traditional communities, and educate the public about key Amazon environmental concerns. Our programs will focus primarily on researching the ecology, and promoting the sustainable harvest and marketing of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Indigenous and other traditional people collect thousands of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for food, medicine, construction, and other purposes. These products include fruits, fibers, resins, oils and a variety of animal products. Forest people use many NTFPs in their daily lives and sell some to buy goods not available in the forest. Helping communities to sustainably harvest and sometimes market NTFPs can, therefore, help enhance their cultural traditions, local economy and forest conservation. Supporting peoples' intimate knowledge and use of plants for traditional medicines reinforces the connection between healthy forests and a community's well-being. People who can harvest fruit, fish and game meat are less likely to burn forest to raise cattle or cash crops to buy other foods from the city. People can sell NTFPs as one way to buy basic necessities and help local development projects. Self-sufficient communities are better able to resist accepting outside proposals that bring in short-term cash at the expense of their environment. There are ecological and other challenges to sustainably and profitably havesting NTFPs. Growing communities can easily overharvest NTPFs that commonly used in their daily lives or collected for commercial purposes. It is also not easy to make a good profit harvesting and selling NTFPs. It may be too difficult or expensive for remote communities to send some products to market. Harvesters that sell raw or slightly processed NTFPs receive very little money for their products. The Center will help forest-based communities in the Amazon address these and related challenges through three main program areas: Research, Community Support, and Education and Outreach. Research projects will investigate the ecological, social, and economic aspects of culturally and commercially important NTFPs in the Amazon region. Community Support projects will help partner communities develop specific management and marketing programs for NTFPs and provide support for other local development projects. Education and Outreach programs will publicize current Amazon ecology and community issues, create partnerships with Amazon community groups, and enlist public support for Center programs and goals.