Potential for bioeconomy an investment magnet for the Amazon
Bioeconomy—a sustainable production model free from biodiversity loss—is one of the main options in the transition to a low-carbon economy. In the Amazon, the results of this business form are attracting more and more investment from both governments and the private sector.
In its report A Business Opportunity Contributing to a Sustainable World, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development mentions a global potential of $7.7 trillion in business opportunities by 2030.
In the capital of Pará, Belém, host city of the next United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), to be held in November, the study Bioeconomy of Sociobiodiversity back in 2021 already highlighted the capacity to increase forest production chains by BRL 170 billion by 2040.
Innovation and Bioeconomy Center
One of the projects being implemented in preparation for the COP30 is the Belém Innovation and Bioeconomy Center (CIBB). With investments of BRL 20 million, a task force with both federal and city agents as well as the Itaipu Binacional company is expected to totally revamp a listed mansion to have it house 20 budding initiatives.
In addition to publicizing the economic model, the facility should work as the nucleus for the ecosystem of businesses like that of Izete Costa, known as Dona Nena, who produces chocolate and other cacao derivatives on Combu island.
A member of a riverside community and the daughter of farmers, Dona Nena grew up traveling along the Guamá river with her parents to sell native cacao on the mainland of Belém.
Over the years, with the change in climate and the growing demand for other crops, the businesswoman saw a decline in cacao trees in the region. “We used to go down there with three or four canoes full of cacao beans. Today, my brothers don’t even come down with one,” she said.
In her quest to help preserve the fruit on the island and stimulate its appreciation, Dona Nena began searching for the best way to enhance cacao processing and add value to local production. In an artisanal way, she started producing chocolates from what was planted and harvested in her backyard and those of her neighbors.
In 20 years of work, Dona Nena’s company now benefits 16 families who, like her, make a living from the sustainable management of the Amazon rainforest without having to deforest or leave the region and look for other opportunities.
These families have access to drinking water through a rainwater harvesting system. Cacao processing has also funded better sanitation and infrastructure for tourist services, which strengthen the production chain without the need for middlemen.
Dona Nena is proud of this work, as it helps protect the biome, but she pointed out it is not yet a reality for the rest of the region.
“Do people need to keep the forest standing? Yes. But they need treated water, basic sanitation, health care—a lot of things that make it possible for them to stay here. Because they often leave and someone else comes to clear the forest. These people don’t have the right conditions to stay,” she argued. As a possible solution, she advocates more investment in technical assistance and for local producers.
Investment magnet
Camille Bemerguy, deputy secretary for bioeconomy in the state of Pará, argued that, in order to attract investors, the state government launched PlanBio Pará, which aims to value genetic heritage and strengthen production chains through science and innovation.
“It’s a plan for the state, not for the government, aimed at ensuring continuity and establishing new bases for land use and forest use. So bioeconomy is grounded in this plan, which provides a new environment, bringing legal security to investors,” she said.
Even though bioeconomy has been practiced for many years by the people of the forest, she noted, the extractive way in which the sector has developed in recent years needed to be reformed and adapted to more sustainable practices. Furthermore, studies have also been conducted on new ways of scaling up production and giving more visibility to the end products, Bemerguy added.
PlanBio also includes the construction of the Amazon Bioeconomy and Innovation Park, which is underway on the shores of Guajará bay. According to the state government, BRL 300 million is being invested in restoring and adapting warehouses in Belém’s old port area.
The site will house the Bioeconomy Observatory, the Food Culture Center, the Sociobioeconomy Center, and the Local Tourism Center.
The investments can already be seen reflected, Bemerguy noted, in how the sector has been structured, which previously had few innovative programs and was poorly prepared to last in the market.
“We used to have some 70 startups, and most of them died halfway through[…], but there was one left at the end, with a viable product and access to the market. Today, we have around 300. With the state’s Bioeconomy and Innovation Park, we still want to draw another 200,” she went on to say.
With a better structure for the sector, she said, the state also hopes to get entrepreneurs out of the informal sector and add up to 4.5 percent of Pará’s GDP by 2030. “You need to unlock certain elements so that this doesn’t become just another development cycle. It has to be transformative. So [we’re going to] revamp all this infrastructure and connectivity and give more visibility to these actors who are here and who have made such a significant contribution,” she concluded saying.
*The reporter traveled at the invitation of the government of Pará.
