Importance of bioeconomics for Amazon development is highlighted in debate at Escolhas

Event marks the launch of Ricardo Abramovay’s work on the knowledge of nature economy and a study by Escolhas that presents proposals to boost the economy of Amazonas

Keeping the forest upright is the main driving force to make the Amazon region generate revenue and reduce the huge social inequalities that exist in the states, especially in the Amazon, according to participants in the debate on bioeconomics organized by Instituto Escolhas, with support from Arapyaú and Instituto E on the night of this Monday (2) in Sao Paulo.

Hosted by Sergio Leitão, executive director of Escolhas, the event was attended by the executive secretary of Science, Technology and Innovation of Amazonas, Tatiana Schor; from economist and regional development expert Carlos Manso; Marcello Brito, president of the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag) and Professor of the University of São Paulo (USP), Ricardo Abramovay, who launched the book “Amazônia. For a knowledge economy of nature”, by Elefante publishing house. The debate was also marked by the release of the executive summary of the study “A New Economy for the Amazon: Manaus Free Zone and Bioeconomy”, idealized by Escolhas.

The book, according to the author, is organized into five central ideas. The first is that the economic growth of the Amazon does not imply deforestation, quite the opposite. The second premise defends the thesis that reducing deforestation diminishes Amazonian wealth generation very little. The third shows that protected areas in the Amazon, and nearly half of the region is made up of them, are a key element in maintaining the ecosystem services on which the whole society depends. 

The fourth fundamental element of Abramovay’s publication discusses how protected areas, indigenous lands among them, are being harshly attacked, especially in the last year, due to government action that, according to the researcher, “triggered a very destructive process in the forest” . The last important point dispels the myth that only Brazil has a rigorous forest solution.

“When I used the expression the knowledge-economy of nature in the book, inspired by the dearly beloved teacher Bertha Becker (1903-2013), it is to show that we need exactly that. If the country has hitherto practiced the policy of destroying nature, it is high time for us to reverse this situation” said Abramovay.

In line with the author and professor of USP, the secretary of the State of Amazonas stated in the debate that there is no doubt that the narrative for the region goes through the union between economy and environment. “If we do not believe that the bioeconomy is the way  of development in the region and across the country, we will be looking back, stuck in time. But how to make this transition? In the state of Amazonas we believe that the bioeconomy must be an industrial policy” says Tatiana.

For Marcello Brito, a businessman and one of the leaders of Brazilian agribusiness, there are two ways to make the bioeconomy go away in the Amazon and in Brazil. “Firstly, we need to convince the consolidated economic sectors to invest in the bioeconomy, as in Europe. In the case of the Amazon, we need to know how we will improve livestock, how to improve the cocoa and palm oil industry. And so on. When we reinforce the value chains already in place, we will be able to bring in knowledge and skilled labor so that other chains start to be built in the vicinity”.

The participation of economist Carlos Manso, one of the authors of the study presented by Escolhas also put the economy of the forest and biodiversity in evidence. “Our study chooses bioeconomics as an important policy because it has to do with economic growth and innovation. It is also great from the point of view of the humanities, within our narrative that encompasses improving food production in the world from the Amazon, ”says Manso. 

According to the regional development expert, the bioeconomy in question is not that made at any cost either. “It has to preserve the factors of production by harnessing the waste, assessing the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and the consequences of climate change, in a scenario with less rainfall and more degraded soils.” In the words of the researcher, “is the narrative of the good”. That is why, he says, it is a bioeconomy that stands out as a great protagonist for the power to transform the life of its society.

When the study talks about bioeconomics, according to Manso, it is referring to the development of processes for converting a certain extract or other substance into a high value added product. The bioeconomy allows sustainability, a very important guideline for keeping the forest standing, and the use of local inputs. Something very relevant is also that our proposal foresees the insertion of production in the global chains. Bioeconomy is part of a globalized economy because consumers around the world demand these types of products”, affirms the economist.

The economic development model proposed by Instituto Escolhas, informs Sergio Leitão, integrates the current vocation of the Manaus Free Zone (AM) and its industrial park to technological innovation and sustainable use of Amazonian biodiversity. “The investment of over R $ 7 billion to boost the bioeconomy in the Amazon will create jobs in the Manaus Free Zone as long as it is committed to a science and technology research agenda, skilled labor training, business environment creation that favors innovation and has the state teaming up with business and academia. This creates the necessary conditions for the Amazonian economy to integrate into the 21st century, based on global production chains”, according to Leitão.

Check out the presentation of the study “A New Economy for the Amazon: Manaus Free Zone and Bioeconomics” at link