The Amazon floodplain Demonstration Site: Sustainable timber production and management of Central Amazonian white-water floodplains

Within the frame of the UNESCO Ecohydrology Program, the present Demonstration Project aims at the enrichment of degraded várzea forest patches with economically important timber species in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (MSDR), western Brazilian Amazon. Enrichment plantations will reduce exploitation pressure in the natural environment and will contribute to the conservation of várzea forests and its ecological integrity by introducing alternative sources of income for the inhabitants. We present preliminary results from an interdisciplinary research, including data about the use and the net present values of timber trees in western Brazilian várzea; growth models and management criteria of the most exploited timber species; and germination experiments, which demonstrate that várzea timber species are easy to germinate, without requiring complicate treatments and expensive materials. These data allow for the initialization of timber species reproduction at larger scales, and provide the scientific basis to enrich degraded várzea forests with economically important timber species.