Región Amazónica: biodiversidad y posibilidades de transformación industrial

Several studies have pointed out the Amazon region as one of the most biodiversity regions of the world. The quantity of animal and plant species creates at least in potential terms the possibility of economic exploitation for
different uses in productive chains related to several productive sectors, such as the forest-based sectors: timber and non-timber, which may include, also, the vegetal extractive activity; food and beverage; use of biomass; personal hygiene and cosmetics; pharmaceuticals and medicines, including phytotherapics medicines; among many others. However, related to its extractive genesis and low scientific-technological development (characteristic of its immature Regional Innovation System), there are few productive chains that effectively incorporate components or products of Amazonian biodiversity into a more significant scale of industrial transformation. This article initially discusses the need for a classification of economic activities in Brazil, which allows better identification of industrial productive sectors "carriers" of the region's biodiversity utilization.
Then, in an exploratory analysis, it investigates which these productive sectors, and the limitations and economic bottlenecks to reach other production chains in the region. The results indicate that the food and beverage industry is the productive sector that has been most successful in exploiting biodiversity, although other productive sectors have a promising growth potential.