Local farmers get the support they need to help save the rainforest

With help from Sky Rainforest Rescue, local farmers in Acre, or smallholders, are receiving support to improve their livelihoods in return for managing their land without damaging the rainforest.
Sky and WWF are supporting the Acre government’s voluntary land certification programme that rewards smallholders for farming sustainably. By committing to manage their land without cutting down trees, local people are reaping benefits for their families and the rainforest.

Committed to conservation

“The forest is highly important to us,” says Francisco de Paulo (known to his friends as Tachico), a fisherman and smallholder who lives in Acre with his wife, a son and two grandchildren.
“Some day my grandchildren will want to get to know the forest and we will be able to show it to them.”
Tachico is just one of the many people who are benefitting from the programme. To qualify, he pledged not to cut down trees or use fire to clear land on his property.
In return, Tachico received an initial payment of 250 Brazilian real (about £90) along with advice and practical support from the government on sustainable farming methods.  

“I bought a pig, beans, rice, manioc (a local plant) and also paid a labourer to help me in my field,” he says.
If he upholds his commitment, he’ll receive a further 250 real in the next year, plus 600 real (about £220) a year for the following nine years. Funds raised through Sky Rainforest Rescue will go towards financing payments to families involved in the land certification scheme over the next three years.

Profitable alternatives

Another local fisherman, Geraldo Bispo, enrolled in the scheme earlier this year and is also enjoying the benefits.
With the 250 real he received, Geraldo paid off his debts and bought food supplies for his whole family.
“I live with my wife, three children and one grandchild. An income of this kind is very helpful for us”, he says.
Mauro Armelin, coordinator of WWF-Brazil’s programme of support for sustainable development, says that the project is offering people in Acre a profitable alternative to activities which harm the rainforest.
“It is essential to offer local residents options that can compete financially with historically more profitable, but predatory, activities like cattle ranching in open pastures,” he says.

This is Senhor Nonato's story: