By Lisandra Paraguassu and Valerie Volcovici

BELEM, Brazil (Reuters) -On the banks of the Guama River where the city of Belem presses up against the vast green Amazon, Brazil is pioneering an economic model designed to help locals profit from a healthy rainforest.

Instead of clear cutting trees for cattle and mines, the state government of Para this year unveiled a research and development program designed to help locals transform forest products like acai and Brazil nuts into goods for global markets.

It is a small part of a big plan for Brazil, as Belem hosts the COP30 international climate summit, to show the world that it can find a way to protect the Amazon rainforest and ensure jobs and money for its residents.

“Our intention is for Para to turn its forest assets into a new strat

See Full Page