José Maria Silva, CI, emphasized the role of Brazilian states in protected areas (PAs), noting they have created 48% of PAs to date in the Brazilian Amazon. Describing the sustainable development reserves (SDRs) which have been created by the Government of the State of the Amazon, he stressed the importance of achieving a balance between conservation and sustainable use, of science and traditional knowledge working together, and of encouraging a sense of global community and ownership, explaining that in SDRs expropriation of private land within the reserve is not obligatory and depends on the recommendation of the management plan.

Richard Barlow, British Embassy in Brazil, explained that SDRs are part of a broader British Government £2 million portfolio of projects on human rights, climate change and biodiversity in Brazil. He explained that the British Government has partnered with CI and the Government of the State of the Amazon in the Cujubim Sustainable Use Reserve project and are currently helping them to create a long term management plan to provide economic and ecological sustainability. He emphasized the involvement of Beraca, a private company producing and supplying natural products for the cosmetics industry.

Francisco Ademar da Silva Cruz, Government of the State of the Amazon, described the Cujubim reserve, saying that nearly 300 people from 56 families live in this very remote reserve. He described threats from illegal logging, hunting and predatory fishing. He said current activities include: making initial contact with reserve inhabitants and the municipality to develop a participatory management plan; scientific expeditions; capacity building for sustainable use of resources; and developing economic incentives for the provision of environmental services.

Vírgilio Maurício Viana, Government of the State of the Amazon, described the Zona Franca Verde SDR programme which aims to reduce deforestation, promote conservation, improve livelihoods and create partnerships. He said that the Government of the State of the Amazon had focused on initiatives such as changing the economic incentives law to include forest products, and as a result had reduced deforestation by 67% over three years. Viana announced the creation of 2.4 million hectares of new reserves in the Brazilian Amazon, accomplishing the original target of 105 million hectares in a four year period. He said their success is based upon the participatory nature of PA creation and called for increased funding, through environmental services payments and partnerships with commercial enterprises.

Referring to his recent visit to the Darwin Initiative project on sustainable management in Mamiaua, Brazil. Jim Knight, UK Minister for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity, said he was particularly delighted to hear that the younger population in this community are moving back from the cities because of the increased standard of living.

Samual Infante, Quercus Fund for Nature Conservation (FCN), Portugal, noted synergies achieved working with SPVS, and described their Nature Protection Fund, mostly sourced from the private sector. He noted that, as in the rest of Europe, bats in this region are threatened, but that they have had success with securing a conservation plan with the local community.

Sandro Coneglian, SPVS, discussed the araucaria adoption programme, which pairs private forest owners with companies willing to sponsor conservation, who then benefit from tax deductions. He explained that although the initial agreement is for 5 years, it can be renewed indefinitely, and stated that this has been effective in warding off conversion to of the land to agriculture and tree plantations.

Deborah Cruz, Grupo Positivo, described her company’s experience in adopting the Uru araucaria forest, noting that this has served as a model for other landowners to follow, and as a living classroom for their environmental education programmes.

Pedro Opuchkevich Júnior, Alba Campognolo and João Alberto Perrelli, owners of araucaria forest, recalled the challenges associated with resisting pressures to convert their land to more profitable uses, including from local authorities, and described how they have benefited from the SPVS adoption programme.

Urging participants to contribute to its current consultation phase, Martin Hollands, Cambridge Centre for Conservation Policy Limited (CCCP), explained that the LLP Initiative (LLPI) is UNESCO-led, in partnership with IUCN, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), and the CCCP, and aims to promote the wider application of effective LLP in keeping with sustainable development principles.

Natarajan Ishwaran, UNESCO, said the LLPI is located within UNESCO's Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, saying the question now being posed is how to scale up and consider possibilities for the whole landscape.

Andrew Parsons, ICMM, indicated his association's interest lies in an approach which takes geological information into account when planning decisions such as the creation of PAs.

Noting the notion of “landscape level” had been part of Shell's discourse for some time, Steven de Bie, Shell International B.V., emphasized Shell takes this concept seriously, through actions such as environmental impact assessments, and in analyzing the direct and indirect impacts of drilling site choice.

Emphasizing communication and joint planning, André Guimarães, Instituto Bioatlântica, described work with forest companies surrounding the restrictive PAs in a region dubbed the “Mesopotamia of Biodiversity”, with the highest diversity of tree species in the world, to effectively connect the PA fragments to protect wildlife and use private sector assets towards conservation.

Discussion: Participants questioned the effectiveness of integrated LLP, but acknowledged the need to consider the overall landscape, emphasizing the need to set limits on human activity and called for removal of disparities caused by legislative frameworks.