One of the mid-term objectives of the sustainable harvest of spectacled caiman in the Takana Indigenous Territory (TCO Takana I) is to commercialize added value products in specialized markets.The tanning of leathers for sale as a processed product (and not only salted) was a first step in this direction, which allowed CIPTA and the Matusha Aida Association to increase profits and to distribute additional benefits to the partners and communities sustainably harvesting the spectacled caiman.
The commercial agreements between CIPTA and Walisuma and Sayari enterprises is another fundamental step to ensure attractive markets for the Takana Indigenous Territory Caiman yacare leather products. This development complements the scientific research activities, species management and organizational strengthening, conducted in partnership between CIPTA and WCS. This commercial alliance is also important because it is the first direct sale between enterprises that produce leather products and an indigenous organization that promotes a sustainable development project of the spectacled caiman based on a management plan.
This experience is already a reference in the country, and there is interest in replicating it in other indigenous territories where spectacled caiman are being harvested.
In order to make visible the entire production process, it is planned that each item made from such leather will be accompanied by relevant management information, including the name of the hunter and his community, where the harvest was made and some other data on spectacled caiman biology and ecology.
Is worth underlining that to date there have been three harvests of spectacled caiman: in 2007, 2008 and 2010, under the management plan that was approved in 2007 by the Biodiversity and Protected Area General Direction (DGBAP). The harvest indicators: time spent hunting, the average catch size, selection of water bodies, show that in general populations of spectacled caiman are responding successfully to the extraction of the established quota of 524 individuals, and that harvest quotas are not exceeding natural production within the population.
Through contracts, CIPTA has sold 803 ft2 of tanned and finished leather (with color and luster) of the 2006 ft2 obtained from the 2010 harvest.In this way, they are laying the groundwork for a marketing strategy to ensure the long-term sustainability of the entrepreneurship for sustainable use of the spectacled caiman in the Takana Indigenous Territory. This has been possible through the support of the National Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Spectacled Caiman Program of the Biodiversity and Protected Area General Direction (DGBAP) of the Ministry of Environment and Water.