VALUING THE RAIN-FOREST - ECONOMIC-STRATEGIES BY SMALL-SCALE FOREST EXTRACTIVISTS IN THE AMAZON ESTUARY

The current interest in non-timber forest products as an economic opti on for the Brazilian Amazon represents a radical departure from the po licies that have guided development in the region during recent decade s. Despite this interest, little is currently known about the forms of resource management or economic strategies practiced by populations d ependent on such resources. In this study, we measured the annual inco me and expenditures of ten households on Combu Island, located in the Amazon estuary near the major port city of Belem; in addition, we docu mented local uses and management of natural resources on the island Av erage annual income per household was found to be over U. S. $4000, de rived primarily from the harvest and sale of non-timber forest product s. The results of this study show that the combination of proximity to a major market and appropriate resource management can lead to high a nd apparently sustainable economic returns.