This article by Chris Meyer was originally published by the Environmental Defense Fund Amazon indigenous communities have made huge strides in the last two decades to secure legal recognition for their ancestral lands – territories which play a major role in efforts to conserve rainforests and stabilize the global climate. But there is still […]
By Jacob Olander Chocolate may be heavenly, but macambo seeds – from a cousin of the cacao tree – may be the most exciting rainforest superfood that you’ve never heard of. Macambo packs a hefty dose of protein, fiber and antioxidants into a delicious, crunchy nut-like package. Theobroma literally means “food of the gods,” […]
By Jacob Olander On the table of Amaz, an award-winning restaurant in Lima, with a natural-meets-urban-sophistication vibe, a small bowl of dark dipping sauce and crispy cassava-flour tortillas (casabe) is brought to the table before the meal proper begins. The sauce is a rich, slightly tangy surprise that fills the mouth with flavor. For […]
By Jacob Olander The price of vanilla beans is at a record high. With prices hitting $550-600 per kilogram of black vanilla beans, this precious spice is now worth more, pound-for-pound, than silver. A global supply crunch is putting pressure on companies that rely on the ingredient – and creating new potential opportunities for […]
Read More… from With vanilla as valuable as silver, opportunities for farmers?
By Gabriela Albuja With CanopyBridge.com we aim to make it easier for buyers and sellers to find each other and connect on line – but at some point there´s still no substitute for meeting face to face. Building on the success of last year´s “Forest Economies” prize, we launched a competitive award to provide […]
Read More… from Sealing the deal: Winners of our 2017 Forest Economy Awards
By Jacob Olander For years, the Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) has been emblematic of the idea that we can conserve the Amazon rainforest by using its valuable products wisely. No other product of the Amazon rainforest generates as much revenue, for as many people – this nut can be an economic lifeline for forests. […]
Read More… from Still Standing: Revisiting the ‘cornerstone of Amazon conservation’
Iván Ulchur-Rota Açai (Euterpe oleracea) is a small black fruit that hangs from tall palms of the lowland regions in the Amazon. In the archipelago of Bailique, in the northeastern part of the Brazilian Amazon, farmers harvest the fruit by binding their feet together to form a stirrup that grips against the trunk of […]
By Iván Ulchur-Rota “Was there enough for everyone?”, I asked Estefy Baldeón, chef and Canopy Bridge consultant, about the fish just grilled in a forest clearing on the banks of the Aguarico River in the Amazon. “Everyone ate,” she answered. “And they loved it.” After eating dinner around the fire, four chefs, the Canopy […]
In the Amazon city of Iquitos, Peru, people eat camu camu (Myrciaria dubia) with salt when it is still green. When the fruit matures, its sweet and sour yellow pulp is used to prepare juices and local desserts. When it’s in season, it is consumed everywhere for cheap. “People who eat it never […]
Read More… from What happened to camu camu? The rise, fall (and recovery) of an Amazon “super food”
Last month the World Cocoa Foundation issued a stern statement that the measures taken by the cocoa and chocolate industries and by the United States and West African governments, “have not been sufficient to achieve significant reductions in the number of children working in unacceptable conditions in West Africa, often in circumstances defined as child labor.” […]
Read More… from Peruvian Chocolate’s secret ingredient: more kids in class, not on the cocoa farm
