Among 56 registered projects, IPÊ’s Navigating Entrepreneurial Education in the Amazon was recognized on Saturday, February 1st, with the Innovation Award from the School of the Environment at Yale University. The announcement was made during the 31st Annual Conference of the International Society of Tropical Foresters 2025, at Yale University, from January 31st to February 1st, in New Haven, Connecticut, in the United States.
With the central theme Governing Resilient Tropical Forest Systems, the Conference mobilized leaders of initiatives that work to strengthen governance in tropical forest areas as central to climate regulation, biodiversity and forest peoples. The voting was attended by the event’s audience, both in person and online.
Awards like this are strategic because they combine the potential of forest peoples as guardians of biodiversity, in this case the Amazon, while strengthening sustainable businesses for which the standing forest is the main ally. It is a true sum of benefits that begins at the local level, but has regional implications and on a broader global scale. Na esfera social, também é possível observar melhora da qualidade de vida, interesse dos jovens pelos negócios e maior presença de mulheres. In the social sphere, we have observed an improvement in the quality of life, interest among young people in business and a greater presence of women. The prize money of 3 thousand dollars will be used for another mapping of entrepreneurs and a new training cycle prioritizing young indigenous and riverside residents of the Puranga Conquista Reserve.
IPÊ project coordinator Rafael Estrela, who was originally invited to the Conference, received the news of the Award alongside IPÊ executive director Eduardo Ditt, who was also present at the event. “It is with great pride and gratitude that we are celebrating this achievement. First of all, winning this award represents recognition of the efforts of the entrepreneurs of RDS Puranga Conquista and the commitment of everyone at IPÊ who took part in this exciting cause. In addition to bringing greater visibility outside Brazil, the Conference also reinforces that our efforts to promote sustainability and seek innovative solutions to environmental challenges are being met. Our participation expanded the opportunities for collaboration, partnerships and the multiplication of good practices,” highlights Rafael Estrela.
The Navigating Entrepreneurial Education in the Amazon project has been performed since 2021 in the Puranga Conquista Sustainable Development Reserve, in the Lower Rio Negro region, in partnership between IPÊ and LinkedIn.
The project mapped 300 businesses in the Conservation Unit and identified around 50 with growth potential. 21 were selected and received guidance from volunteer professionals who supported the entrepreneurs in challenges related to logistics, communication, marketing, infrastructure and accounting. At this time, 12 initiatives received seed investment to improve their businesses. Most are linked to Community-Based Tourism, including two inns, a restaurant and a snack bar. “With this work, we have seen real transformation in the community. With impact businesses, the community even offers incentives for young people to want to stay and live in the RDS, something essential for the forest, since the areas with the lowest deforestation rates are precisely those where the forest people live,” says Andrea Peçanha, coordinator of the Sustainable Business Unit at IPÊ.
