Deep in the Brazilian Amazon, in one of the most isolated municipalities in the country, a paradox plays out every day: the forest is extraordinarily rich — full of rare native fruits like açaí, patauá, abacaba, buriti and cacao — yet the indigenous Huni Kuin and riverside families who steward this territory live in extreme poverty, with no viable economic alternatives. Without income, the forest gets cleared.

The Living Forest Network (Rede Floresta Viva) flips this equation. Instituto Flor da Floresta – Ni Huá, a women-led civil society organization based in Jordão, Acre, operates a freeze-drying and cold-pressing laboratory that transforms these native forest fruits into high-value superfoods and essential oils. We buy raw materials directly from producer families at fair prices — creating the first reliable income many of these families have ever had from the standing forest.

The results speak for themselves: over 30 families already integrated into the supply chain, confirmed buyers in Brazil and Chile, and a new freeze-drying machine arriving in August 2026 that will double our capacity. The technology was recognized as a Social Technology by the Fundação Banco do Brasil (2026), and our health model has been awarded by CONASEMS and documented by Fiocruz.

But this is bigger than products. We are building a women-led producer cooperative, planting 5,000 native seedlings in degraded community areas, and training a new generation of community multipliers to carry the model forward — long after any grant cycle ends.

The forest is more valuable standing than cleared. We are proving it, one family at a time.