Behind the forest restoration scene: a socio-economic, technical-scientific and political snapshot in Amazonas, Brazil

ABSTRACT Conservation of the Amazon rainforest is a global concern and is supported by the Brazilian government’s ratification of the Bonn Challenge and Paris Agreement and the introduction of national regulations on vegetation protection and restoration. Amazonas is the largest and least deforested of the states occupied by the Brazilian Amazon (< 3%). We carried out a survey on the current state and growth potential of seed and seedling production in Amazonas state, pointing out constraints where future investment can promote the achievement of large-scale restoration commitments. We visited the 35 officially registered seed producers or nurseries working with native seeds and interviewed their owners or managers using open and closed questions. Enterprises were mainly privately-owned family businesses with small production (10,001 - 100,000 seedlings per year) and concentrated in the metropolitan area of the state capital Manaus. We uncovered a further 54 non-officially registered nurseries. Annual production (2018) was almost four tons of seeds and nearly ten million seedlings. According to the owners, production could be increased five to seven times with existing infrastructure. Production is focused foremost on species for food production (48% seeds, 74% seedlings), while ecological restoration only makes up 35% of seed and 8% of seedling use. Major bottlenecks cited by the producers were low demand for native tree species, high transportation costs and excessive bureaucracy. To achieve large-scale restoration, we recommend enforcement of national policies for vegetation protection and restoration, and a restructuring of the seed and seedling sector with a bottom-up approach.

摘要 亚马孙雨林保护是全球共同关注的议题，巴西政府批准《波恩挑战（Bonn Challenge）》与《巴黎协定（Paris Agreement）》，并出台植被保护与修复的国家法规，为该议题提供了支撑。亚马孙州是巴西亚马孙地区所辖各州中面积最大、森林砍伐率最低的（森林砍伐率不足3%）。本研究针对亚马孙州的林木种子与种苗生产现状及发展潜力开展调研，明确了可通过未来投资推动实现大规模修复承诺的制约因素。本次调研走访了35家官方注册的、从事本土林木种子业务的种子生产商或苗圃，并通过开放式与封闭式问卷对其所有者或管理者进行访谈。受访企业以小型私营家族企业为主，年种苗产量为10001至100000株，且主要集中在州首府马瑙斯大都市区。此外，调研还发现了54家未进行官方注册的苗圃。2018年年度总产量接近4吨种子与1000万株种苗。据受访企业主称，依托现有基础设施，产能可提升5至7倍。当前生产优先面向食用类树种（种子占比48%，种苗占比74%），而用于生态修复的种子仅占总种子用量的35%，种苗占比仅8%。受访生产商指出的主要瓶颈包括：本土林木树种需求低迷、运输成本高昂以及行政手续过于繁琐。为实现大规模生态修复目标，本研究建议强化植被保护与修复相关国家政策的执行力度，并采用自下而上的方式对种子与种苗产业进行结构调整。