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Brazil’s Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hotspot. Efforts to restore the forest must address the tradeoffs facing family farmers. In this paper, we combine literature review and empirical analysi...

Palm heart from jucara palm (Euterpe edulis) has been one of the most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) from the Brazilian Atlantic forest since 1960s, but overharvesting, among other factors, drove the species near to extinction. However, the recent conversion from extraction of hearts of palm to berries harvesting for pulp production, a nondestructive use, had a remarkable effect on species conservation and its potential for cash provision and forest landscape restoration. Pulp production from E. edulis in the Atlantic Forest is strongly benefiting from the traditional and expanding market of acai pulp produced from Euterpe oleraceae in the Amazon Basin. In this article, we assess the current status of this new NTFP from E. edulis in the State of Santa Catarina, tracing a parallel with the acai production chain in the Amazon. In addition to a literature review, we surveyed the production chain and interviewed key stakeholders. Production of jucara pulp soared from 5 tons in 2010 to 97.76 tons...

The production of ecosystem goods and services has increased significantly in the last 100 years, while the capacity of ecosystems to generate supporting and regulating services has decreased. In this context, agriculture and livestock production have become major concerns. At the same time, livestock, particularly dairy cows, play a key role and can serve to improve ecosystems, production, and rural livelihoods. We randomly selected and conducted semistructural interviews with 61 dairy family farmers from four cooperatives in the Encosta da Serra Geral Region of the Atlantic rainforest in Santa Catarina, Brazil. The goal was to analyze their production and viewpoints about environmental variables after adopting management-intensive grazing (MIG). The overall results showed that when farmers changed from semi-confinement and continuous grazing to MIG they perceived improvements in production, livelihoods, and ecosystem services. Moreover, according to farmers’ insights, MIG could be a tool to increase wat...