grantees » Rocio Chacchi Ruiz

Rocio is a biologist specializing in environmental management. Having studied in Brazil, she has spent the last decade dedicated to the design and analysis of biological diversity conservation projects with a particular emphasis on Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs). NTFPs allow people to gain economically from the products of the forest without the harvest of trees, and encourage a sustainable relationship with nature. Since 2007, Rocio’s been an internal consultant in the Environmental Sustainable Development Secretariat of the Amazonas State of Brazil, focusing on the public policies regulating the NTFP sector.  She has extensive experience in participatory agro-forestry methods in Brazil, as well as experience in the forest certification processes of FSC and Smartwood.

With the help of the JWH initiative, Rocio sought to develop her inter-regional network to share knowledge and experiences about NTFPs. She completed an internship with the NTFP-Exchange Program in the Phillipines. There, she presented her Brazilian experiences to several fora, where “the interaction was very good, allowing for dialogue and identification of fragile points and possibilities for the Phillipine scenario”. Combined with the intensive English lessons she followed, this has greatly enhanced her communication skills, and was her first opportunity to give a formal presentation in English. She also published for the NTFP-EP newsletter, in English. Through meeting and discussing with Phillipine communities, stakeholders, academics, government representatives and civil society networks, Rocio was able to “draw lessons from the policy advocacy efforts of NTFP-EP and its partners for potential application and adaptation in the Brazilian context […] though more studies need to be done.” Her international collaboration, facilitated by the JWH initiative, has expanded her horizons and she has “begun to analyse NTFP issues on a broader, global scale”.