The Brazilian Programme of Molecular Ecology for Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (Probem), designed in 1997, is aimed at making the Amazon region a source of high value-added products and advanced scientific know-how, especially through the use of biotechnology. The programme is aimed at changing the current model of economic growth in the region, which is based on the extraction of wood and minerals, ranching and one-crop farming – activities that destroy the forests.
