Equator Prize 2002 Summaries  -- Green Life Association of Amazonia (AVIVE)

This information is copied from the UNDP Equator Initiative web site at:  http://www.undp.org/equatorinitiative/EquatorNet/brazilPage.htm

AVIVE is a local women’s NGO which uses traditional knowledge to make cosmetics, soaps and perfumes from sustainably harvested forest products. The profits from the local and international sale of AVIVE’s high quality products are ploughed back into the local community.

AVIVE is based in Silves – one of the oldest urban settlements in the Amazonas state and the main center of human population in an area of immense biological importance. With its unique ecology, Silves has become a popular destination for ecotourists. Unemployment rates are high, however, and unsustainable resource exploitation is threatening the region’s biodiversity. AVIVE was formed in response to these challenges. The initiative began with the creation of a small workshop – complete with moulds and other soap-making equipment – and an associated garden, in which many of the natural ingredients for the products are grown. Garden-grown ingredients are supplemented by tree leaves and branches collected from the forest (whole trees are never harvested). The group makes a wide range of ordinary and novelty soaps, as well as a number of other articles (fibre necklaces, baskets, small wood products, etc.)

To date, the main market for AVIVE’s products has consisted of tourists, but international sales have also begun. 20% of the income from soap sales goes straight to the participants. The remainder is divided between AVIVE’s fixed costs (labes, etc.) and investment into primary resources for the local community. There are currently 26 women – aged between 16 and 70 – in the association, the majority of whom were without jobs until the project began. AVIVE has afforded these women a significant measure of economic independence.

These socio-economic gains have been achieved in conjunction with a number of positive impacts for the environment. All the ingredients used in the manufacture of AVIVE’s products are sustainably harvested. The workshop nursery has also contributed to the perpetuation of local biodiversity. Between May 1999 and March 2002, for example, some 6,000 seedlings of native Amazonian plant species were transferred from the nursery to areas of private land within the municipality. In particular, AVIVE is leading the fight to save the endangered rosewood tree, by showing that it is possible to extract greater quantities of essential oil from juvenile leaves than from the wood itself. And through its ecological education activities, AVIVE is helping to preserve traditional respect for the forest.

AVIVE’s success in fusing the aims of biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction secures its status as a model for sustainable development initiatives throughout the world.