ACHIEVEMENTS



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ince the early 70s, WWF has supported a wide range of projects in Brazil and has played a key role in the growth of the countrys conservation movement.

WWF was largely responsible for focusing international attention on the plight of the Atlantic Forest and its endangered species. It supports a variety of projects within the region, including one of the earliest and best known efforts to protect the rare golden lion tamarin a squirrel-sized monkey facing extinction.

The lessons learned from this project are already being used to help protect other endangered species in Brazil. "This programme has contributed more than any other conservation or research programme in the world to our knowledge of primate reintroduction," says Lou Ann Dietz, one of WWFs Senior Programme Officers.

Over the past ten years this originally species-oriented project has expanded into a model for WWFs integrated approach to conservation efforts. As the project evolved, work increasingly focused on public education and sustainable development in an effort to improve the quality of life of local communities and give them a genuine stake in conservation. The model has been replicated and expanded in the Una region of southern Bahia where WWF is attempting to preserve another isolated patch of Atlantic Forest. This Integrated conservation and development project (ICDP) involves community education and the development of sustainable economic alternatives for former cocoa producers and landless rural workers.

In Amazonia WWF is promoting the sustainable use of natural resources in an effort to tackle the root causes of environmental degradation. Projects involve the development of sustainable agroforestry (in Marabá), non-timber forest products (in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve), and sustainable timber management (in Paragominas). WWF is also helping the government to establish conservation units such as the Lago Mamirauá Ecological Station and Jaú National Park.

The establishment of a number of large extractive reserves in Amazonia has been advocated as an important means to help slow down deforestation and preserve the traditional land use patterns of local Amazon forest dwellers. Most of these projects are based in Acre State where the rubber tapper movement is strong. A similar pilot project, supported by WWF, has now been established in the state of Amapá involving production of palm heart to test whether extractive reserves can be established in other parts of Amazonia.




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Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature