This consists of raising awareness among the artisanal fishing sector and tourism service providers on environmental issues such as biodiversity loss and climate change, empowering them to become multipliers of good practices.

The methodology is participatory, with local fishermen and tourism service providers taking the lead in learning, hand in hand with governmental and non-governmental institutions.

The public calls of the Iratapuru Fund mark a decisive step in democratizing access to resources, enabling communities around the Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve (RDSI) and research institutions to compete transparently and equitably. Since 2019, annual calls have been launched covering action lines focused on community strengthening, improvement of productive infrastructure, promotion of education, technical training, and support for applied scientific research. The process involves several stages: broad dissemination of the call, training and support for communities in preparing proposals, rigorous technical analysis by the Management Committee, collective deliberation, and subsequent monitoring of the approved projects. This arrangement not only strengthens community autonomy and fosters local innovation but also expands the positive impacts in the region, contributing to sustainable development, institutional strengthening, and the production of scientific knowledge aimed at biodiversity conservation and the appreciation of traditional livelihoods.

With the enactment of Federal Law 13.123/2015, Natura held meetings with the Government of Amapá (SEMA/AP) and the São Francisco do Iratapuru community (represented by COMARU and the Bio-Rio Association), resulting in an Addendum to the Agreement that created the Natura Fund for the Sustainable Development of Traditional Communities, later renamed the Iratapuru Fund. These discussions highlighted the need to support COMARU in managing the resources, which would be transferred from Natura’s account to its own, given the significant amounts involved. The Iratapuru Fund Management Committee was established, composed of five voting institutions (COMARU, Bio-Rio, SEMA/AP, Natura, and Jari Foundation) and two advisory members (RURAP and SEBRAE/AP). The agreements defined the Fund’s composition, periodicity of transfers, application criteria, and the requirement that funded projects address at least one of the 21 action lines, with access through public calls.

The transfer of direct management of the Fund’s bank account marked a milestone in strengthening COMARU’s community autonomy. Previously, resources were under Natura’s administration, which evaluated and approved submitted proposals. With the change, the cooperative assumed direct control, defining—together with the Management Committee—criteria, calls for proposals, and application priorities. This arrangement fostered greater transparency, social participation, and institutional strengthening, ensuring that benefits reached local communities around the Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve (RDSI) and partner institutions more equitably.

It seeks to facilitate the implementation of responsible practices by companies through a progressive, technical, and collaborative transition, while continuing to demand compliance with the principles of the seal. 

To achieve this goal, each company must be offered a personalized support plan, through which socialization sessions, internal training, consulting, and technical visits are provided. A compliance assessment must also be carried out after 12 months, and adjustments made according to the results.

In addition to the cash-for-work program, local community organizations were established that organize joint activities and serve as a platform for collaboration between the Koh Tao Municipality and locals. Five community organizations were established: Koh Tao Fisherfolk group; Sairee Taxi Boat Group; Mae Haad Taxi Boat Group; Koh Tao Women Group; and Koh Tao Youth Group.  

The communities received training on the implementation of biodiversity finance solutions, financial and digital literacy, and other skills such as fish processing and T-shirt tie-dying. Locals started using community organizations to coordinate clean-ups and committed to continue working on marine debris removal and beach cleaning.  

As part of the cash-for-work program, boat drivers were also trained in waste segregation. After the program they  submitted a proposal for the Koh Tao Sub-district Municipality to establish waste separation bins in their tourist boats.  

Moreover, KTB promoted activities for the students at Baan Koh Tao School focused on financial literacy, inclusion, and knowledge management. A small-scale studio for Koh Tao Kids Channel (TaoNoi Channel) was set up to create knowledge content for students. KTB also financially supported fisherfolks in acquiring fish aggregating devices.  

The crowdfunding campaign raised resources to provide cash transfers to taxi boat and small fishing boat drivers, who were identified as one of the most vulnerable groups due to the COVID-19 pandemic (for more information, please refer to building block 1). To achieve this, a cash-for-work program was established, in which temporary cash transfers are conditional on the provision of labor for the corresponding period. The boat drivers were hired for three months to clean beaches, collect marine debris, recycle the waste collected, and mobilize the local community for biodiversity conservation.  

In this way, the campaign not only contributed to the livelihoods of boat drivers during the pandemic, but also increased their awareness of, and engagement with, biodiversity loss caused by unsustainable practices. These engagements strengthened a sense of ownership among locals towards the campaign and their own island, serving as an additional motivation for conservation and restoration, fostering behavior change after the cash-for-work program ended.  

Krungthai Bank (KTB), a key partner in the "Koh Tao Better Together" crowdfunding campaign, developed an easy-to-use electronic donation platform integrated with the Thai tax system. The bank's innovation lab offered to create the e-donation platform. Through a QR code, Thai citizens were able to make donations in a quick, transparent, and verifiable way. The platform allows Thai donors to automatically send their donation information to the Revenue Department for tax deduction. UNDP also designed another e-donation platform for international donors. 

KTB acted as the initial donor of the campaign, contributing 30% of the fundraising target. Furthermore, the bank committed to covering the remaining donations if the target was not met, which was unnecessary thanks to the success of the campaign.  

Additionally, KTB provided trainings on digital financial services to boat drivers.  

While Sparśa in Nepal serves as a pilot enterprise, NIDISI’s ambition reaches far beyond one country. Years of networking with practitioners, academics, social entrepreneurs, and NGOs showed us that many projects across the Global South are working with natural fibres — banana, sisal, water hyacinth, bamboo — yet most face similar challenges: how to process fibres efficiently, ensure product quality, secure market access, and build financially sustainable social businesses. To address this, we launched the Sparśa Blueprint Project, which creates a global community of knowledge sharing for compostable pad manufacturing.

The Blueprint is where Sparśa’s technical expertise, R&D, and social business lessons are opened up for replication. It documents machinery CAD files, sourcing strategies, financial planning models, and outreach approaches, but also creates space for dialogue and co-creation. Connecting projects across the globe enables local innovators to learn from each other and adapt the model to their own contexts and fibre plants.

First building block of Journey of Community Building: Creating a Globally Adaptable Blueprint Model for Fibre Pad Manufacturing — will be published on the PANORAMA platform in September 2025, and a full solution page will follow in November 2025. There, we will share the accumulated experience of years of building networks across continents, including insights from collaborations with grassroots entrepreneurs, academic partners such as Stanford University’s Prakash Lab and LGP2 from the Grenoble INP-Pagora, NGOs, and local governments. This scaling of our project will serve as the gateway for replication, helping others create their own fibre-based pad enterprises.

Krungthai Bank (KTB), a key partner in the "Koh Tao Better Together" crowdfunding campaign, developed an easy-to-use electronic donation platform integrated with the Thai tax system. The bank's innovation lab offered to create the e-donation platform. Through a QR code, Thai citizens were able to donate to the account "Raks Thai Foundation, UNDP and Krungthai Love Koh Tao" in a quick, transparent, and verifiable way. The platform allows Thai donors to automatically send their donation information to the Revenue Department for tax deduction. Moreover, UNDP designed another e-donation platform for international donors. 

KTB acted as the initial donor of the campaign, contributing 30% of the fundraising target. Furthermore, the bank committed to covering the remaining donations if the target was not met, which proved unnecessary thanks to the success of the e-donation platform.  

Additionally, KTB trained boat drivers on how to access the bank's existing digital financial services. These include Krungthai NEXT — an e-banking app with multiple functionalities for directly managing personal finances —, and Krungthai Connext — a free notification system via the LINE messaging app that provides real-time updates on financial transactions.