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Final Report Chico Mendes Trail Technical Visit Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre, Brazil 27-29 March and 10-12 May 2018 Report by: Jim Barborak, Ryan Finchum, and Jim Upchurch A collaboration of: USAID FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Center for Protected Area Management StateUniversity *�; • Colorado ICMliaP·INSTITUTOCHICO MEN� y- D MMA ff • Table of Contents 3 Summary 3 Acknowledgements 4 Background 4 Long Distance Trails 5 Community-based Tourism 6 Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve 7 Proposed Trail Route 9 Technical Visit Descriptions 17 Observations and Lessons Learned 19 Recommendations for Follow-up Action 21 Appendix A: Participants and Support Team 24 Appendix B: Photos 2 Summary Between March and May 2018, two technical field visits were made to the state of Acre, in the southwestern portion of the Brazilian Amazon basin, to the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve and surrounding area. The field visits were made by central office and field personnel from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), Colorado State University, the US Forest Service, and the State of Acre Tourism Agency. The goal of the technical visits was to bring together a small group of experts to assess success and challenges to date with the Chico Mendes Trail initiative, a 90 km long-distance trail through the reserve and to nearby communities and to provide recommended actions to further consolidate the trail initiative and promote associated community-based tourism. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank our hosts from ICMBio and the state government of Acre who accompanied us, provided vital information before and during our visits, related the history of the Chico Mendes Trail initiative, and were excellent traveling companions. We would also like to thank the local community members who accompanied us on field trips and provided valuable historical insights and recommendations on the development of the Chico Mendes Trail based on their deep knowledge and history of Acre, its people and its resources. We would like to thank the Brazil program of the US Agency for International Development and the US Forest Service International Programs, specifically U, for USFS Brazil program managers, for their financial support of efforts to promote expanded outdoor recreation and community-based tourism opportunities in protected areas and local communities of the Amazon basin of Brazil. 3 Background The Partnership for the Conservation of Amazon Biodiversity is a multi-year technical collaboration program between the US and Brazilian governments that is financially supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The partnership’s main objective is to strengthen biodiversity conservation efforts in protected areas of the Brazilian Amazon. The technical implementers are the US Forest Service and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. One of the areas of implementation is the strengthening of protected area public use programs throughout the Amazon basin. This report summarizes a series of technical visits to the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve to provide technical assistance in the development of community-based tourism initiatives that uses long-distance trails as a means for providing visitors the opportunity to experience the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve while also supporting sustainable livelihood activities and diversification of income sources. The specific objectives of the two technical visits included: 1. Review the history, design and development of the Chico Mendes Trail 2. Meet with individuals that have played a key role in the development of the Chico Mendes Trail concept 3. Visit the main access routes to the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve and that connect historic sites near the reserve and that tell the story of Chico Mendes and the struggle of the Acre rubber tappers 4. Visit community member homes located within or adjacent to protected areas and experience the way of life with community members 5. Visit existing tourism destinations and services near the RESEX and in the capital city of Rio Branco and other urban centers near the RESEX and the proposed trail route 6. Visit a segment of the trail as currently planned 7. Provide a summary assessment of potential ways and means to build on achievements to date and further consolidate the Chico Mendes Trail and the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve as tourism destinations with a focus on community-based tourism Long-distance Trails A long-distance trail is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural landscapes, often at least partially within protected areas, used for non-motorized recreational walking, backpacking, cycling, horseback riding, or, in colder climates, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Many aquatic trails for use by kayaks and canoes also use both natural bodies of fresh and salt water 4 or the routes of man-made canals. In some nations, motorized means of transportation are also allowed, such as off-highway vehicles, electric bikes, and motorized boat and jeep transportation. Such routes are usually marked and identified on maps. While there are also many shorter loop and spur trails within parks, trails are usually described as "long-distance" if it takes the average user more than one day to travel from end to end. Typically, a "long- distance" trail, way or path will be at least 50 km (30 mi) long. Some in Britain are several hundred miles long, and many in the US, continental Europe and New Zealand are much longer. In some countries, such as in much of Europe, where trail users can traverse private land if they respect crops, livestock, fences and gates, trails often traverse large areas of private lands. In the Western Hemisphere, however, private landowners have the right to prevent public access in most cases and thus, long distance trails primarily are found in publicly owned protected areas and waterways or on rights-of-way and easements when on private lands. While many long-distance trails, some of thousands of kilometers in length, cross Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, and the US official national trail system is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2018, their development in Latin America in general is more recent. There have been bold efforts, currently on hold, to build a trail system the length of Chile (Sendero de Chile), more successful efforts to build shorter trails in the Argentinian portion of Patagonia, and successful efforts to develop multi-day trekking routes along the Inca Trail in Peru and at Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. A proposal has also been made for a Mesoamerican Trail linking parks and reserves from Panama to southern Mexico, but only the Panamanian portion has been totally mapped out and even in that case development is in its infancy. However, there are currently efforts underway to build a national long-distance trail system in Brazil, consisting of several major long-distance routes such as the Carioca Trail in Rio de Janeiro, a longer Mata Atlantica Trail system that would incorporate the Carioca Trail, a coastal route along the entire Brazilian Atlantic coast, and several trails along major mountain ranges, such as the Mantiquera Range trail system. See https://www.facebook.com/notes/sistema-brasileiro-de-trilhas/sistema-brasileiro- de-trilhas for more information on current efforts to develop long-distance trails in Brazil. Community-based Tourism Community-based tourism is a type of tourism in which local residents, who are often rural, poor and economically marginalized, welcome national and international tourists to their communities and nearby protected areas and cultural heritage sites. The visiting national and international tourists and travelers can have safe, authentic and memorable experiences while they learn first-hand about communities’ ways of life and local heritage while mindful of their social, economic, and environmental impacts on the destination they are visiting. Usually, community members provide overnight accommodations, meals and guide services in the communities and to nearby attractions such as protected areas, archaeological and historical sites and to learn about the local culture. Community residents earn income working for 5 conservation and tourism agencies and enterprises, as owners and employees in restaurants, hotels and gift shops, through sales of agricultural, fisheries and artisanry products, and through provision of tourism services such as transportation for visitors and construction and maintenance tasks associated with tourism. Often, enterprises and services are undertaken not just by individuals or family-based enterprises but also by cooperatives and associations to promote broad community benefits. Some of the best examples involve public-private partnerships between communities and government conservation and tourism agencies, or with experienced and well-capitalized outside tourism entrepreneurs who bring capital as well as marketing and entrepreneurial skills to complement what the communities can offer. Such tourism is meant to diversify and improve rural livelihoods, reduce poverty, and empower local communities and marginalized sectors, often in regions that have limited economic opportunities but are rich in natural and cultural attractions. These communities are often located within extractive reserves and other types of protected areas and indigenous territories or in buffer zones and corridors near important parks and reserves. Successful development of community-based

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