CSF-Brazil analyst Fernanda Alvarenga returned to the Southern Amazonas state last week to help locals complete business plans to sustainably use forest resources. The technical assistance sessions followed a business plan training delivered with CSF's Leonardo Fleck and partners from the FORTIS consortium.

The plans will help people effectively produce and market timber, fish, brazil nuts and other products that can be extracted without damaging the Amazon ecosystem. Fernanda worked with partners on cashflows, marketing strategies and logistics, all details that are critical if these enterprises are to compete with the destructive forces knocking at the door of this still-intact and diverse landscape. It's truly inspiring for CSF to be able to contribute to these efforts. As Fernanda put it:

"I could see with my own eyes that the actions we're working on today aren't just important - they're urgent. I've met people who have had death threats from land-grabbers, seen loggers trying to do deals with Indians, and seen lots of difficulties and poverty. I don't know how long the Indians and extractivists can resist within their "protected" areas...and I wonder why they stay. I heard an interesting answer: the freedom to live in their own way keeps them there. I continue to believe that we can contribute somehow, both to conservation, to people's wellbeing and maybe even to freedom itself."