Rare Empowering Amazon Coastal Communities for Resilience | Rare

Along Brazil’s northern Amazon Coast, the world’s second-largest continuous mangrove forest acts as a natural coastal defense system. Stretching over 14,000 square kilometers, it sustains more than 3,200 marine species, including fish and crustaceans vital for food security and local economies—while shielding over 3.5 million people from storm surges and coastal erosion intensified by climate change. 

This coastline, home to Brazil’s richest blue carbon ecosystems, is central to the country’s ambition under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the 30×30 commitment to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. Yet, realizing these national and global goals depends on the ability of local governments and traditional communities to plan, manage, and finance climate action where it matters most. 

Rare catalyzes solutions and connects local actors—community leaders, municipal authorities, and research institutions—to co-manage mangrove ecosystems, design Climate Action Plans, and pilot innovative, behavior-centered approaches. Through this collaborative model, Rare Brazil advances locally led climate resilience, aligning conservation and development goals to protect globally significant ecosystems while improving well-being and governance across the Amazon Coast. 

4 Initiatives for Frontline Communities

Catalyzing Sustainable Oyster Value Chains Aquavilla

Along the Amazon Coast, the Association of Aquaculture Producers from Vila Lauro Sodré (Aquavilla) sustains a living model of blue bioeconomy rooted in community knowledge, innovation, and stewardship. Located within the federally protected Mãe Grande de Curuçá Extractive Reserve, Aquavilla cultivates oysters in balance with nature. 

Aquavilla maintains the biological base of oyster reproduction and distributes sustainable seeds to other oyster producers across Pará and beyond. By protecting breeding areas and regulating extraction, Aquavilla ensures that oyster farming across the Amazon coast grows, while maintaining ecological integrity. 

Rare Brazil, in partnership with Secretariat of Environment and Sustainability of the State of Pará (SEMAS), Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), and Marine Environmental Monitoring Laboratory at the Federal University of Pará (LAPMAR/UFPA), catalyzes this process through data-driven governance and behavioral adoption strategies that strengthen community and ecosystem resilience, while aligning with Pará’s climate and bioeconomy agenda. 

Why it matters

Aquavilla is not just a local producer — it is the ecological and social nucleus of the Amazonian oyster chain. Its management of mangrove oyster banks sustains biodiversity, secures food systems, and supports livelihoods along the Amazon coast. Strengthening Aquavilla’s monitoring, governance, and behavioral engagement creates ripple effectsripples across Brazil’s coastal blue economy, making it a replicable model for community-led conservation and production. 

Strategic Relevance

This initiative advances Pará’s State Plan for Bioeconomy (PlanBio), Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), and the 30×30 commitment. By connecting traditional livelihoods, data, and behavioral science, the partnership between Rare, SEMAS, ICMBio, and LAPMAR/UFPA demonstrates how community-led monitoring and policy integration can transform traditional extractive systems into scalable models of climate resilience and ocean sustainability.

Solutions

Timeline

Casa Ucides Crab Processing Facility

In Soure, crab, shrimp, fish, and açaí sustain the food security and livelihoods of hundreds of families. But without infrastructure, formalization, and fair markets, the value chain traps them in informality and vulnerability, threatening their subsistence and the natural environment.  

The Casa Ucides initiative is a cooperative unit to process, package, and market Uçá crab meat. 

Goals

• Safe, sanitary, and efficient production space that meets market and health standards
• Legal recognition, access to new markets, and compliance with regulations
• Empowered community leaders, dignified work, stronger resilience

Networks for People-Powered Solutions

To achieve impact at scale, one organization cannot do it alone. That is why Rare invests in the power of partnerships—specifically by supporting, facilitating, and helping to grow networks. Networks are critical for:

• Strengthening local actions and connecting global agendas
• Ensuring participatory and decentralized governance
• Amplifying the voices of frontline communities in policymaking

In Brazil, Rare works with several networks toward effective protection of the Resex—an extractive reserve designation, allowing for an area of ocean to be used by fishers, oyster gleaners, and other local harvesters, while protecting vital ecosystems from deforestation and industrial development.

Networks

Network
What it is	A global network of mayors and other local leaders advocating for coastal communities and ecosystems. Meet Coastal 500	A network of over 630 women living within 14 marine extractive reserves (RESEX) along Brazil’s Amazon Coast working to strengthen women’s leadership in mangrove conservation and local climate adaptation strategies. Meet the Mothers	Formal associations of artisanal fishermen in Marine Extractive Reserves.	An association of youth representatives from communities in Pará state active in local governance
What it does	Offers training events for public management Serves as a global exchange platform Produces technical material for policymaking Facilitates public commitments to sustainable governance, aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals	Builds financial resilience through Savings Clubs Offers financial literacy education Supports business acceleration Builds awareness through participation in events	Advocates for shared resource management Advocates for sustainable use and exclusive access to fishing grounds by local fishers	Participates in local, regional, national, and international convening Runs advocacy campaigns for mangrove protection Facilitates community projects and workshops Members participate in decision-making councils

People-Centered AI for Amazon Coastal Resilience

ARCA

Traditional data sources are too imprecise for local needs, leaving communities exposed to erratic tides, salinity changes that damage oyster farms, and floods that strike without warning. Municipal governments, often underfunded and underskilled, are forced into first-responder roles without adequate tools or autonomy. The initiative seeks to create a scalable, community-centered climate intelligence platform that empowers vulnerable coastal communities to anticipate and adapt to climate risks. At scale, the platform aims to transform environmental risk management, bridging global climate goals with local adaptation needs, and turning data gaps into opportunities for more adaptive and decentralized governance

Goals

• Improved safety, productivity, and livelihoods for small-scale fishers and oyster farmers. 

• Enhanced capacity for municipalities to develop localized Climate Action Plans. 

• A replicable model for data-driven climate resilience that can be scaled across Brazil and other data-scarce coastal regions. 

Solutions

Brazil by the Numbers

Learn more about Rare’s work in Brazil