Jurua Institute
Much of the Amazon’s destruction comes from people simply trying to earn a living. Land gets sold to corporate interests that clear it for agriculture, mining, or cattle, driving runaway deforestation.
The Idea
Market-funded Community Conservation
Total Investment
1200000
Grants
0
Equity/SAFE
0
Debt/Convertible Debt
Funded Since
2019
Geography
Sector
Structure
The Mission
Protect freshwater ecosystems.
How It Works
Instituto Juruá helps communities create protected areas that increase the population of commercially valuable species and make more money as a result. They’ve started with the valuable—and huge—arapaima fish, which already has a local market. Their special sauce is a fishing agreement that aligns all community members around harvest quotas and profit sharing, creating a blueprint for the wider region.
The Dream
Communities in the deep Amazon rainforest sustainably manage and profit from valuable species and commodities, within the limits of the ecosystem. Domestic and international markets value these products highly and will pay a premium for forest-sustaining goods.
Why We're In
They’ve already created fishing agreements covering 5M hectares. They’ve gone from a scrappy research organization to one attracting international partners. Multiple studies over 15 years show a 600% increase in arapaima, and exponential recovery of other vital species. Communities earn an additional $9K/year (that’s a huge amount in these settings). The idea has legs beyond fish (ha!), but needs strong community based organizations to implement it well.
Ujamaa Community Resource Team
Livelihoods-First Communal Land Management
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