Precious Woods Amazon: Close ties with the local population

In 1997, PW Amazon was the first FSC-certified company in Brazil. More far-reaching investments have been made not least of all in the fields of workplace safety, accident prevention, and training. We maintain partnerships with educational institutions in order to promote schooling as well as professional training for the employees, their families, and the local inhabitants of Itacoatiara (the neighbouring city with approximately 80 000 inhabitants) and the surrounding communities.

Precious Woods attaches great importance to a good understanding with the local population: In 2016, PW Amazon began a socioeconomic survey of the local communities, which is repeated every year. We draw on this survey to gain insights about environmental, ethnic, and religious aspects and the measures we should take to promote participation by the local population.

Since 2018, Precious Woods has organized capacity building courses and projects for the benefit of the local communities. These are described in more detail in the segment reports.

In cooperation with the HAFL (University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences) and other educational institutions, we regularly accompany bachelor’s and master’s theses of prospective forest engineers. In that way, we gain important insights into the impact of our activities, the regenerative capacity of our forest areas, and any potential for improvement. And sometimes we even succeed in attracting managers, bachelor and master students for our locations in Brazil and Gabon.