Environmental services as a strategy for sustainable development in rural Amazonia

Rural Amazonians, especially Indians, extractivists and other forest dwellers, desperately need something that they can sell. Sale of material commodities taken from the rainforest is the focus of most attempts to encourage 'sustainable development' for these populations, but the mother lode waiting to be tapped is not a material commodity, but rather the forest's environmental services. Converting services like biodiversity maintenance, carbon storage and water cycling into monetary flows that can support a population of forest guardians requires crossing a series of hurdles. Reliable quantification of the magnitude of services being offered is a first necessity. How to convert forest environmental services into an income stream, and how to convert this stream into a foundation for sustainable development in rural Amazonia is a great challenge. Effort should be focused on tapping environmental services as a long-term strategy for maintaining both rainforest and its population. In addition to progressing toward long-term goals, immediate measures are needed to support the population and to avoid further loss of forest.