Ricardo Hausmann

CAMBRIDGE – The Amazon rainforest, one of the world’s most vital natural resources, plays a crucial role in maintaining climate stability and safeguarding biodiversity. As global warming and deforestation push the Amazon toward a catastrophic tipping point, the question on everyone’s mind is how to preserve it.

The emerging consensus seems to be that the best way to protect the Amazon is to cultivate a “bioeconomy.” Over the past few years, this idea has been endorsed by conservationists and various stakeholders, including Brazil’s government, private philanthropies like the Moore Foundation, bilateral donors such as the United States Agency for International Development, multilateral lenders like the Inter-American Development Bank, and prominent organizations such as the World Economic Forum and the World Resources Institute.

The bioeconomy framework aims to foster the sustainable use of forest resources and promote the welfare of local communities. This includes, for example, harvesting non-timber forest products like Brazil nuts, açai berries, and rubber, as well as producing and marketing creams and perfumes under the Amazon 4.0 label. The hope is that further research will discover more valuable applications, enabling conservationists to counter destructive practices that contribute to deforestation, such as cattle ranching.

Although well-intentioned, this approach is likely to backfire. The bioeconomy’s potential has been overstated, and its actual impact is often misunderstood. First, despite being fashionable, açai berries and Brazil nuts represent niche markets valued at about $1 billion, or roughly 0.05% of Brazil’s GDP.........

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