The Amazon and nature-based economies

Transforming the ecosystem of environmental crimes into an ecosystem of green enterprises has been a mantra of Igarapé.

It is essential to rapidly build a sustainable and inclusive economy in the Amazon. This will not only improve the socioeconomic conditions of a region that lacks development but is also key to accelerating and sustaining the reduction of illegal deforestation that has been destroying the Amazon Basin. It is also crucial for Brazil’s and the world’s net-zero carbon and biodiversity goals.

Entrepreneurship with high integrity in the Amazon’s nature-based economies—which include the carbon and biodiversity credit markets, the bioeconomy, ecological and regenerative-productive restoration, and sustainable tourism—is a task as challenging as it is urgent and necessary.

Uncertainty, insecurity, and informality in the region affect both entrepreneurs and investors, exacerbated by complex land tenure issues and the diversity of the multiple Amazons that coexist within its vast geography.

The opportunities, just like the region itself, are vast, spanning multiple sectors and driving so-called nature-based solutions. Brazil alone hosts almost 20% of the world’s biodiversity and one-third of primary tropical forests, storing 37 billion tons of carbon, with an additional four billion tons available for sequestration through forest restoration. It is estimated that, with appropriate investments and actions, the bioeconomy could inject US$ 593 billion annually into Brazil’s GDP by 2050.

Addressing the Amazon’s major challenges requires a coordinated and collaborative approach among multiple stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, public agents, investors, and especially local communities—whose inclusion in new production chains is fundamental for the sustainability of long-term enterprises.

Igarapé works to strengthen nature-based economies in the Amazon Basin, based on democratic governance and the protection of local community rights. Our focus is on building partnerships to promote public policies and solutions that recognize the value of natural capital, driving investment in nature as a catalyst for sustainable development and socioeconomic inclusion in the region—benefiting not only its populations but the planet as a whole.

Learn more here about the Green Bridge Facility initiative, which encourages green enterprises in the Amazon and other Brazilian biomes.