Natura launched a hydration line based on Ucuuba in April of this year, a tree that, due to the intensive use of its wood in the 1980s, is now threatened in the Amazon. Every time Natura works with a raw material derived from a threatened species, the adoption of the new formula is conditioned on the existence of a conservation project to ensure a process with good management practices and the sustainable use of this resource. The case of the new Ucuuba line was no different, and Natura sought specialists from the academic world to develop a study on the conservation of the species in the rural communities that supply the seeds.
Fátima Pinha Rodrigues, a researcher affiliated with the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR), embraced the challenge and suggested a model in which the communities would be involved not only in harvesting but also in the conservation of the species. “We realized that it is not possible to preserve Ucuuba in natural areas without involving the participation of the communities that use this forest resource,” explains Fátima, who has over two decades of experience in programs that studied the ecology of the species in the field up to timber exploitation, in addition to having participated in the drafting of legislation that prohibited logging due to its significant impacts.
“We work in a participatory manner with the communities involved. They participate in various actions such as data collection in the field, seedling production, and decision-making. We can say that it is a union of university, company, and community,” concludes the researcher.
From this exchange of knowledge, Natura will develop, in partnership with UFSCAR, a manual of best practices that enables the sustainable production of seeds and the conservation of the species in the area where it is produced. “I believe that the exchange between scientific knowledge and traditional knowledge is a great value that this project is bringing,” emphasizes Carolina Domenico, a researcher in the area of sustainable technologies at Natura.
If before families earned money from selling wood, today it is more profitable to exploit the seeds, which provide an income up to three times greater. The trees, which used to take up to ten years to reach their ideal size for cutting, are now more valued standing. Nature thanks.
