Ecomadera: Market Strategies for Sustainable Forestry

The Ecomadera Project is a long-term partnership between the Pinchot Institute, the Pinchot family, and Ecudaor's Fundación Jatun Sacha to develop, test, and spread a new model for forest conservation and rural economic development in Ecuador. Other partners include the Peace Corps, the USDA Forest Service Office of International Programs, and USAID.

The project's goal is to address both chronic rural poverty and deforestation by promoting sustainable development in forest-dependent rural communities. These communities can create strong pressure on local forests, with impacts on biological diversity and other important natural values, yet still realize only marginal economic income -- which leads to even greater harvesting pressure on local forests.

The Ecomadera project is focused on increasing value-added wood processing in the community itself, thus providing higher income from less timber harvest, while still promoting sustainable forest management practices.

Background and Next Steps
Latest Photos (PowerPoint)

Project Leader: Peter Pinchot, Senior Fellow