Integrity promotion as a resource to prevent illegal deforestation in Brazil

Alliance for Integrity and its partners have identified a strong need for an anti-corruption prevention training in the extractivism sector. Therefore, after a couple of months developing and adapting the standard materials and products, the Alliance for Integrity has developed and implemented two specialized ‘De Empresas Para Empresas – DEPE' (From Companies To Companies) training programmes in Indonesia and Brazil.

The activities surrounding the environmental topic kicked-off in the autumn of 2022 in Indonesia, where a first training course for representatives of the palm-oil sector successfully took place. This first experience was the pilot activity to what is now being expanded for different hubs of the Alliance for Integrity. The first hub to pick-up the new product was the Brazilian hub. The ‘DEPE’ training programme oriented to environmental issues took place shortly afterwards in the north of Brazil, in Belém, state of Pará. Representatives of 29 organisations of the states of Pará, Amazonas, Acre and Amapá that work with agroforestry, extractivism and agricultural activities in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest region took part in the activity.

Throughout the one-day training programme, the representatives of different cooperatives, associations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exchanged experiences about the challenges they face daily in their businesses in relation to integrity and corruption. In addition, executives working on the topic in large companies, which are part of the Alliance for Integrity expert volunteer network as the ‘DEPE’ trainers, presented basic concepts on anti-corruption practices that will support mitigating risks and identifying vulnerabilities that cooperatives and associations are exposed to in their sector.

The Brazilian training programme was developed in collaboration with the GIZ projects Bioeconomy and Value Chains and the DeveloPPP – both funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) – and the latest together with the companies Natura and Symrise as well. The Alliance for Integrity intends to act against the nexus between corruption and illegal deforestation, by including the private sector, public sector, civil society, and local communities in the promotion and conscientization of integrity, accountability, and transparency in the forestry sector activities.

During the process of adapting and implementing these training, two main factors as ways to achieve such objectives have been identified as:

• Supporting indigenous peoples and other traditional communities (marrons, extractivists and riverine peoples) that resort to bioeconomic activities, for example extractive activities of non-timber forest products, such as oils, fruits, seeds and resins;
• Trainings on anti-corruption and integrity practices that will contribute, for example, to their access to public funding and expand the commercialization of their products.

Furthermore, with its ways of traditional life, these populations maintain the health and sustainability of the different forests in Brazil. Thus, their maintenance and prosperity reinforce different value chains in a promising way, contributing to the alternatives against deforestation of the so valued fauna and flora of the country. We are looking to further expand our work over the topic, gathering ever more partners in an important collective action for more transparency, accountability and responsibility of such activities. Stay tuned and do not miss on our next activities.