On April 22, the concessionaire families, partners of the REDD+ Brazil Nut Concessions project, and Bosques Amazonicos (BAM), celebrated the achievements and progress of the REDD+ Brazil Nut Concessions project and reaffirmed their commitment to the conservation of forests in a fellowship event.
The meeting was held in the coliseum of Puerto Maldonado and was attended, among others, by congressman Eduardo Salhuana, the mayor of the provincial municipality of Tambopata Luis Alberto Bocangel, the president of FEPROCAMD Juan Carlos Grifa and BAM’s director in Madre de Dios, Eduardo Galindo.
During the presentations and welcoming remarks, the representatives and authorities highlighted the work carried out by the REDD+ Brazil Nut concessions project, the company Bosques Amazonicos (BAM) and the concessionaires of Madre de Dios with respect to forest conservation and the improvement of the economic and living conditions of the Brazil nut families. They also ratified their commitment and support to the Brazil nut sector, recalling the importance of defending, supporting and conserving the regional forests and their flagship product: the Brazil nut.
“We look at the families, who have diverse needs. We have a great REDD+ project where we aim to improve their living conditions, and that is what we have done this year that has just passed.” – Juan Carlos Grifa, president of FEPROCAMD.
The celebration included a chocolate party (“chocolatada”), the delivery of toys for the children of concessionaires, a children’s show, a lunch for the participating families and a raffle where baskets, household appliances and other surprise prizes, such as bicycles, were raffled off.
At the fellowship event, concessionaires and their families reaffirmed their commitment to the REDD+ Brazil Nut Concessions project and to the protection of their forests through a symbolic “tree of commitments and intentions”. As part of the dynamic, in which the children and grandchildren of the project partners participated, the participants took the opportunity to express their gratitude and recognition of the benefits they are receiving from the REDD+ Brazil nut concessions project.
To date, REDD+ Brazil nut concessions project works to protect more than half a million hectares of Amazonian forests with the participation and commitment of more than 600 concession partners grouped in the Federation of Brazil Nut Producers of Madre de Dios (FEPROCAMD).
Text and photographs by: Valeria Drinot
