Socioeconomic aspects of the extractive oil production Andiroba and copaiba in the Tapajós National Forest, Pará

Abstract

Summary: Andiroba oils (. Aubl Carapa guianensis) and copaiba (Copaifera spp) are non timber forest products of great use in the local, national and international pharmacopoeia, but the production is done on a small scale, artisanal techniques, the communities extractive. The study was conducted in the communities of St. Dominic, and Nazareth Quarry, located in the Tapajós National Forest, in Belterra. These communities are losing market share, due to the rudimentary structure of oil extraction, with high loss, low quality and insufficient to meet the market demand scale. The production is economically viable because the price is greater than average total cost, which ensures additional income for families. The price of roundwood stimulates the extraction of trees, depending on the immediate profit and the need for household survival. We conclude that, without the modernization of the manufacturing of oil through implementation of collective infrastructure with competitive scale process to generate a stream of permanent income relatively close to the income generated by the timber trade in logs, natural stocks of Copaiba and Andiroba can be depleted.