The Amazon Basin Today
Home to more than 30 million people and 10% of the Earth’s species, the Amazon contains 20% of the world’s fresh water, and serves as an important anchor for South American climate and rainfall.
Photo: Painü, an Indigenous eco-tourism association in the NESsT Amazonia portfolio
But the Amazon could disappear in our lifetimes.
Deforestation and unsustainable development has led to ecosystem stress, increased fire occurrence and a rise in carbon emissions that threaten the lives of communities living in the Amazon first, and the global climate.
Since 1997, NESsT has invested in social entrepreneurs who are leading change in some of the world’s most marginalized communities.
The NESsT Amazonia Initiative in Colombia addresses regenerative forest conservation by supporting climate-smart solutions that grow sustainable value chains while improving livelihoods in the Amazon basin. The program incubates and finances small businesses, cooperatives and associations that impact sustainable value chains through bioeconomy approaches including forest management practices, agroforestry, and land restoration.
The program puts a strong emphasis on both environmental conservation and livelihood improvements, with strong community engagement and income generation. The program applies a gender-lens approach to ensure gender equity in the harvesting, management and monitoring of forest resources, as well as in employment creation.
NESsT Amazonia operates in areas of high biodiversity of the rainforest, including protected areas, reserves, and regenerative conservation units, as well as their buffer and transition zones.
The First Impact Fund Powered by the Music Industry
20,000 hectares
of protected rainforest
500
local jobs created
projected results of the NESsT x Paramó partnership
Importance of Traditional Communities
Photo: Chunaky Baru, an Indigenous artisan association in the NESsT Amazonia portfolio
Traditional communities - either Indigenous or riverine - have been the traditional custodians of the Amazon rainforest. Today they share the forests with a growing number of settlers who seek to tap into the Amazon's considerable natural resources.
NESsT Amazonia in Colombia supports Indigenous enterprises emerging to connect remote areas of the Amazon to sustainable markets, including in eco-tourism, fisheries, superfoods including coffee and cacao, nuts, seeds, and plants for medicinal or cosmetic uses (such as andiroba, muru muru, as well as ucuuba).
While they may not yet meet the traditional standards of investment-readiness and commercial viability, these early-stage Indigenous eco-enterprises have the potential to improve living conditions and regenerative conservation in the Amazon basin at scale.
Strengthening the Ecosystem for Responsible Investment
NESsT Amazonia in Colombia works in partnership with other organizations to strengthen the social entrepreneurship and impact investing ecosystem in the Amazon basin. We advocate to unlock investment-readiness services and patient capital to build a pipeline of enterprises that can access global markets and investments.
Who We Support
NESsT Amazonia in Colombia is proud to support small and medium-sized enterprises contributing to positive social and environmental change.
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Strategic Partners
