Leveraging Social Sustainability in the Amazonian Forest: The Case of a Forest-Based Bioeconomy Enterprise

The social dimension of sustainability has not gained as much attention in bioeconomy (BE) literature as have the environmental and economic dimensions. Thus, this study’s purpose is to analyze how social sustainability of the non-timber forest-based BE enterprise in the Amazonian Forest has been leveraged. A case study was performed in the largest enterprise in Latin America that produces babassu coconut-activated carbon for industrial use. This enterprise is a benefit corporation (B Corp) certified by B lab. The main contributions of the study are: (i) proposing a framework for social sustainability that considers its drivers and elements, for both internal and external stakeholders; (ii) indicating the impact of social sustainability on enterprises’ business model; (iii) pointing out the contribution of technological innovations to the circular economy and preservation of traditions and environment; and (iv) studying an under-explored object such as a B Corp in the Amazonian Forest.


INTRoDUCTIoN
Bioeconomy (BE) has emerged as a new economic paradigm and it is expected to be a key solution to supply societies with food and non-food products while replacing non-renewable resources and preserving natural ones (Wohlfahrt et al., 2019).In BE, new products and services are based on biomass or hybrid materials, and advancements in production and innovation along the value and supply chains are achieved via biotechnology and related means (D'Amato et al., 2017).Forest-based products are subjected to capacity, land availability, adjacency, and sustainability constraints.Such constraints demand specific ways of managing the value-chain of biomass product to ensure sustainability (Petridis, Grigoroudis, & Arabatzis, 2018).In this sense, the sustainability of bioeconomy systems is currently an issue that has to be addressed (Wohlfahrt et al., 2019).
Although linked to sustainable development, the social dimension of sustainability, or social sustainability, has gained less attention in BE literature than have the environmental and economic dimensions (Govindan, Shaw, & Majumdar, 2021;Salvador et al., 2021).The social dimension of BE has been limited to the economy of rural areas and the livelihoods in these locations, centered on the primary production systems including forestry, agriculture and fisheries (D'Amato et al., 2017;Sanz-Hernández, Esteban, & Garrido, 2019).A socially sustainable organization gives back to society rather than simply exploiting the resources made available to it, and takes some measure of responsibility for externalized costs and free goods (Galuppo, Gorli, Scaratti, & Kaneklin, 2014).
The emphasis on social sustainability by BE enterprises is essential in such environments as the Amazonian rainforest.On the one hand, conflicts over the Amazon rainforest land, as well as deforestation, cannot be ignored, mainly because the forest remains one of the highest in the world (González & Kröger, 2020).On the other hand, forests in tropical developing countries constitute a relevant part of the physical, material, economic, and spiritual life of millions of people living in and around such regions (Serrano et al., 2019).According to a UN report, the embattled indigenous and forest-dependent peoples of Latin America are by far the best guardians of the regions' forests.However, the demand for beef, soy, timber, oil, and minerals means the threats to indigenous peoples and their forest homes have continued to rise (Hill, 2015).If properly managed, the forest sector can contribute significantly to regional development by helping to create new markets for advanced forest-based products (Reim, Parida, & Sjödin, 2019).
Thus, the situation in the Amazon brings particular challenges to researchers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and governors, citizens, and society in general: preserving the Amazon rainforest and other native forests, as well as local culture and indigenous traditions, while promoting sustainable development through BE.Appropriate response to these challenges should incorporate a deep focus on social sustainability, in which the dearth of research represents the weak link.Toward filling this research gap related to social sustainability in BE (D'Amato et al., 2017;Govindan et al., 2021;Salvador et al., 2021), this study aims to answer the question: "How could social sustainability of the forest-based bioeconomy enterprise in the Amazon rainforest be leveraged?".This study focuses on non-timber forest-based BE, specifically in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, whereas most of the academic studies in the forest-based BE have been developed in the context of Europe (Lovrić, Lovrić, & Mavsar, 2020) or have been based on a systematic review of the existing literature (Reim et al., 2019).
This study conducts a case study of the largest enterprise in Latin America that produces babassu coconut-activated carbon and bioproducts for industrial use in hygiene and cleaning, cosmetics, agriculture, and chemistry.Among the indigenous people, more than 300,000 women live off the babassu coconut: the Babassu Coconut Breakers.They collect the coconut, break it down to extract the oil, and produce handicrafts.However, the coconut breakers have been constantly threatened by farmers who do not allow access to babassu, and by the expansion of agrobusinesses using land for soya, eucalyptus, corn, livestock (Matos, Shiraishi, & Ramos, 2015), oil palm, and other agricultures such as eucalyptus, soya beans, and sugar cane (Hill, 2015).
To understand the business structure and social sustainability practices of the studied enterprise, this study considers perspectives from internal and external stakeholders.To ensure that the studied enterprise has a demonstrable commitment within the social dimension and is thus a useful option for analysis, this research has studied a Benefit Corporation (B Corp.) certificated by the B Lab (B Lab, 2021).A B Corp. is a for-profit company whose statute explicitly recognizes and intends the impacts of managerial decisions on the well-being of society, as well as on its stakeholders (Kirst, Borchardt, de Carvalho, & Pereira, 2021).For a B Corp., the social mission shapes the business strategy, rather than being a separate part of the organization dedicated to 'doing good' (Villela, Bulgacov, & Morgan, 2019).Several adjustments in business models are demanded for a B Corp. to achieve the social mission while making profit (Villela et al., 2019).There are 4,065 such corporations in the world as of August 2021, from 77 countries, operating in 153 industries (B Lab, 2021).These include such companies as Danone, Patagonia, and Natura, among others.
This study presents four main contributions to the literature: (i) proposing a framework for social sustainability that considers its drivers, its social sustainability relative to internal stakeholders, and its social sustainability relative to such external stakeholders as forest-dependent communities and indigenous people; (ii) indicating the impact on the enterprise business model that has been rebuilt considering the local culture and environmental threats; the enterprise has adapted itself to these circumstances, rather than the opposite; (iii) pointing out that technological innovation leverages the repositioning of the enterprise in the market, threatened by the entrance of palm oil, while inducing circular economy practices as well as the preservation of babassu; and (iv) studying a B Corp. which, to retain its certification by B Lab, must monitor its social impacts on local communities.Moreover, the study presents contributions for both managers and policy makers.

Bioeconomy
Human activities are the main drivers of the intense depletion and contamination of natural resources, which is hampering global economic growth and society welfare.In this context, the concept of bio-based societies and BE have emerged as possible solutions for sustainable development (Sanz-Hernández et al., 2019).The meaning of BE remains ambiguous; several definitions exist in research, policy documents, strategies, and other sources (Reim et al., 2019).Among these is that BE systems have been considered to be specific social-ecological systems which aim to produce, use, and recycle biomass to satisfy the food, energy, material, and chemical needs of a given population in a given geographical territory, while replacing partially or entirely non-renewable resources with biomass and ensuring sustainable management of natural resources (Wohlfahrt et al., 2019).The common denominator linking BE industries is the transformation of biomass, using different technologies drawn together in complex knowledge bases (Mertens, Van Lancker, Buysse, Lauwers, & Van Meensel, 2019).The recognition that natural resources should not be considered free and unlimited, and thus need to be used efficiently (Petridis et al., 2018), also has appeared as a common concern from research in the BE field (Vainio, Ovaska, & Varho, 2019).
However, the definition of BE has shifted, enlarging its meaning.The term BE has risen in popularity since it was put forward by the European Union and almost 50 other countries, including Brazil, around the globe (Stegmann, Londo, & Junginger, 2020).In an ongoing process of adjustment, innovative technologies (Lumbanbatu & Aryanto, 2015) in bio-products assume significant roles because biomaterials have no intrinsic value (Kuckertz, Berger, & Brändle, 2020).However, aside from the technical aspects of BE, each processing stage should be designed in a such way that added value is generated, which enables the process chain to become an economical self-sustainable value chain (Kircher, 2021).The overall BE will therefore involve a wide range of sectors or stakeholders, which are confronted with a considerably increased demand for bio-based raw materials for industrial applications (Kircher, 2021).Typically, the focal companies are the main actors who have the decisionmaking power in non-timber forest-based businesses (Vainio et al., 2019).This context demands different engagement levels from forest owners, local communities, and indigenous people.The role of focal companies in not only avoiding exploiting such stakeholders but also in assuming social sustainability issues as their missions, is vital to sustainable development.

Social Sustainability in Non-Timber Forest-Based BE Enterprises
This study considers social sustainability issues in the context of non-timber forest-based BE businesses.The literature presents the idea of social sustainability as a topic that has gained increased legitimacy due to shifts in both private and public awareness regarding the different levels of responsibilities of business, not only economically but also at the societal and human levels (Galuppo et al., 2014).Social sustainability overlaps with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and addresses the well-being of individual human beings and society through the management of social resources.
Non-timber forest-based products are essential to forest-dependent communities in general and indigenous communities in particular.However, forest-dependent communities are those living in marginalized rural areas in close relationship with forests (Kluvánková et al., 2018) due to largescale production of biomass products.Amazonian indigenous communities are under increasing economic and social pressure (Gouvea, 2014) but in some ways resist the increasing framing of forest as 'resources,' for the key reason that these communities consider themselves to belong to forest and thus to be part of that concept (González & Kröger, 2020).This aspect requires attention in the context of non-timber forest-based BE, in which industry considers biomass to be a natural resource.Moreover, the socio-cultural significance of non-timber forest-based products in the (re)production of culture, myths, identity, and spiritual practices is present across the world (Nijnik, Secco, Miller, & Melnykovych, 2019); thus, BE businesses involving such stakeholders as forest-dependent and indigenous communities should take this significance into account.Meanwhile, other authors argue that BE provides some potential for emancipation and economic development among forest-dependent and indigenous communities, through BE entrepreneurship (Kuckertz et al., 2020).
Two perspectives have been associated with social sustainability in businesses focused on it: internal social sustainability and external social sustainability.Internal social sustainability is related to human resource management (HRM), including the application of participative policies and practices in ways which prompt equity and justice in HRM: transparent internal communication; well-developed training and career programs; and employee welfare (Govindan et al., 2021;Vainio et al., 2019).External social sustainability reflects an organization's trust and legitimacy, providing transparency in the social community, and demonstrating responsibilities taken by the organization towards the social community and its social and human capital (Galuppo et al., 2014).External social sustainability is particularly challenging because it involves actors who are not necessarily used to working together, such as farmers and chemical industries representatives (Mertens 2019).
A firm's commitment to sustainable culture, incorporated into strategies for competitive advantage, drives the adoption of social sustainability (Govindan et al., 2021).The literature presents several drivers of social sustainability in supply chains: industry values and ethics; sustainability culture and orientation, in which an organization acts with care about environment, society, and communities, and adopts practices beyond regulatory pressure; top management commitment and support, key characteristics of the owner(s); skillful policy entrepreneur, or the ability of an entrepreneur to invest in adoption of social sustainability and to institute related policy; and pressures from stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, government, NGO, community, media, and competitors (Govindan et al., 2021).In the literature, although the emphasis is on the sustainable business model, managers tend to give more priority to environment and economic systems than to social sustainability (Govindan et al., 2021).
The analysis of the exposed aspects related to social sustainability has allowed the current research team to propose a preliminary framework, as Figure 1 shows.We have used this framework to guide the field research.
Through the presented framework, this study proposes that social sustainability has drivers that induce the focus of an organization on social issues, internal practices, and policies to guarantee coherence with values and ethics; moreover, it proposes that such drivers influence external practices and policies to leverage the positive impact behind the walls of the enterprise and uphold social sustainability.

CoNTEXT oF THE STUDy: AMAZoNIAN FoREST, BABASSU, AND B CoRP
Accounting for 60% of Brazil's landmass, the Amazon region is Brazil's newest economic frontier, holding the promise for further economic growth and development of the Brazilian economy and society (Gouvea, 2014).However, deforestation in Amazonia, as well as conflicts among cattle, farmers, squatters, miners, indigenous groups, and public authorities, remain in the public eye as hot topics (Walker, Patel, & Kalif, 2013).Meanwhile, the sustainable use of forest resources and the development of a forest-based economy through entrepreneurship (Gouvea, 2014) have been presented as one of the ways to protect such biomes and ecosystems.
In the Amazon biome, on a shared border with the Cerrado biome, is the region where the babassu palm (Attalea speciosa) is widely distributed (Campos, Albuquerque, Peroni, & de Lima Araújo, 2017).Babassu palm has a straight, single, cylindrical stem of 10-30m in height and 30-60cm in diameter.Each fruit bunch contains 200-600 elliptical to oblong fruits.Babassu palm trees are among the target species for extraction of non-timber forest-products (Campos et al., 2017).This region, despite belonging to Legal Amazon-the geopolitical region in Brazil-contains pastures and other agricultures as oil palm plantations.
Forest-dependent communities, including indigenous residents and Babassu Coconut Breakers, have faced the environmental and social risks imposed by the expansion of oil palm and other agricultures such as eucalyptus, soya beans, and sugar cane (Hill, 2015).Some forest-dependent movements are advocating for the creation of laws to protect babassu palm and guarantee access for the babassu breakers and pickers to collect the coconuts.However, only some Brazilian states have protected babassu by law, and in many cases farmers and companies ignore the laws and prohibit access (Matos et al., 2015).
In Brazil, forest-dependent and indigenous communities heavily harvest the fruits and leaves of babassu palm for human and animal food, as well as for artisanal, construction, medicinal, cosmetic, coal fuel for cooking, and commercial purposes (Campos et al., 2017).The tradition of coconut breaking has been passed from generation to generation, from mothers to their daughters, as a female and collective activity.Breaking the coconut is done manually with an ax and a club; the oil is then extracted.Charcoal is made from the mesocarp.From the leaves, baskets, fans, and mats are made (Matos et al., 2015).
Figure 2 illustrates the area where babassu is a native plant, and indicates the region where the studied enterprise is situated.
As discussed in the Introduction, the studied enterprise is a B Corp., or Benefit Corporation.Such corporations are for-profit companies that achieve certification from B Lab, and focus on creating sustainable solutions for social, economic, and environmental issues through their business activities  (Kirst et al., 2021).B Lab conducts a B Impact Assessment (BIA) to gauge the overall positive social and environmental impact of a company wishing to gain approval.Each B Corp. must publish its Impact Report, amend its legal governing documents to formally balance profit and purpose, and recertify every three years (B Lab, 2021).In 2020, together with the UN Global Compact, B Lab developed a tool called "SDG Action Manager," which integrates BIA, the Ten Principles of the UN Global Pact, and the sustainable development goals (SDGs).The tool is designed to induce B Corp. certified enterprises and those pursuing certification to achieve the SDGs (B Lab, 2021).These characteristics of a B Corp. point to a potential alignment among the triple bottom-line areas of sustainability, including social sustainability; this informed the decision to perform the study on a B Corp.

METHoDoLoGy
This case study has been performed focusing upon the largest activated carbon enterprise in Latin America, situated in the Legal Amazonia.This analysis unit also meets the B Corp. certification selection criterion, which signals the enterprise's commitment to sustainable development according to B Lab.The CEO agreed to open the enterprise to this study.
The enterprise uses babassu as the main raw material.The babassu is collected in an area of 200,000ha around the plant.The direct work force comprises approximately 200 employees.Around 50 coconut breakers' families, which means 1,500 individuals, all women, have been collecting babassu to supply the enterprise.From 25 to 30 micro-entrepreneurs organize these pickers and receive the babassu for delivery to the enterprise, and manage the payment to the coconut pickers.The group of pickers includes a portion of coconut breakers; in addition to selling the coconuts to the enterprise, they produce their own charcoal and oil.
In the same region, another group maintains the tradition of collecting and breaking the babassu to produce oil without providing coconuts to any enterprise or distributor.Other indigenous groups also collect babassu to supply the enterprise when they consider it proper to do so.Neither coconut breakers nor indigenous groups have any commitment or obligation in providing coconuts to the enterprise.
Empirical data have been collected in two distinct phases from 2019-2021.During the first phase, from January-July 2019, researchers visited the site and local communities to learn the history of the enterprise, and talk with diverse stakeholders both internal and external to the enterprise.This phase aimed to guarantee access to the respondents, and to preliminarily observe whether social sustainability signs were present.Researchers conducted two visits to the enterprise, in which they spoke with leadership team members: the CEO, B System Supervisor, Environmental Supervisor, and Production Manager.Researchers also conducted two visits to the local communities and to the area of babassu coconut collection.They held conversations with 15 coconut breakers; 10 coconut pickers; 5 micro-entrepreneurs who receive coconuts from pickers and deliver them to the company; owners of 4 farms from which babassu coconut is collected; 4 indigenous people in their villages; and 4 coconut breakers who represent a legal institution which favors coconut breakers' tradition and culture.The researchers have registered all information and impressions.
The second phase focused on detailed data collection guided by an interview protocol.This protocol included semi-structured questions for each element from the preliminary theoretical framework (Figure 1), adapted to each group of respondents.The interviews with respondents from the enterprise were recorded and transcribed.The external stakeholders did not allow the researchers to record interviews; the responses and data were written during the interviews.The data collection in this second phase was performed between July 2019 and March 2021.Most interviews were in person, until April 2020; one interview each with the CEO, the B System Supervisor, and the Sales Manager were held online after April 2020.Table 1 illustrates the interviews and profiles of the respondents.
For data analysis purposes, the researchers allocated the data from each interview to each corresponding block of the interview protocol.This made it possible to examine each group of respondents separately, associating the findings with each element from the theoretical framework.Next, the researchers conducted a cross-case analysis comparing the findings and the research framework.This triangulation provided internal validity and reliability (Yin, 2009).Similarities and differences in the answers were identified, as well as the related reasons.The results were compared and contrasted with the elements extracted from the research literature.Based on these analyses, the researchers identified detailed implications, providing the aspects that leverage social sustainability in the studied case.The next section presents the findings.

FINDINGS
The change in the company's business model, seeking alignment with sustainable development, has been taking place for the past 30 years.This shift initiated when the founding partner sought avenues to use parts of the babassu coconut in addition to its kernel; the kernel, from which the oil is extracted, represents 6% of the coconut mass, and at the time, the practice for extraction ended with the entire remainder of the fruit being thrown into the forest or burned at the extraction site.The kernels were offered to the company by coconut breakers, who were paid per kilogram delivered (Figure 3).
During the past 15 years, there has thus been a need to intensify technological innovations, develop new products, and increase the company plant's production volume.This was due to the entry of the oil palm on the market, which provided higher productivity than babassu and more attractive remuneration for actors in the production chain.In parallel, conflicts were observed in the lands where babassu grows, as the farmers who owned the lands did not want to allow access to pickers and coconut breakers.In addition, burning practices were constant.

The company reached a point where the price of babassu oil could not compete with the price of palm oil. While the use of oil palm nuts corresponds to 35% of the oil, babassu nuts, in the same proportion, yield only 2% of oil, making commercial competition unfeasible (Production manager).
Expanding its product range, the company then started to produce activated carbon from the previously discarded external part of the fruit.This became the company's flagship product.The main Table 1.Interview characteristics for bioeconomy (BE) enterprise case study participants customers for this output are large companies that produce activated-carbon-based water filters.Babassu coconut oil and other by-products remain in the portfolio, serving cosmetic and food companies.

The company started to produce products derived from coconut, alcohol, activated carbon, starch and oil. Activated carbon became the company's flagship, with greater application in the line of residential purifying filters, and bio-alcohol is indicated in the production of cosmetics (B System Supervisor).
These changes were possible due to technological innovations in the processes.The company developed several types of equipment, along with patents for some technologies.Principles of the circular economy are present, as well as the maximization of energy efficiency.At the same time, the change in the portfolio has demanded large volumes of babassu coconut, which has in turn led to profound changes in the forest product supply chain.These changes triggered the main actions linked to social sustainability, described in the next section.The enterprise consolidated its new business model and, in 2017, obtained the B Corp certification.In this case, processes and practices were realigned, and certification was a consequence.

Drivers Toward Social Sustainability
In this case, the activated carbon market and other customers had not been demanding alignments from the company regarding sustainable practices.According to the interview respondents from the company, the enterprise was a protagonist in offering to the market forest products which were produced from strategies and practices aligned with sustainable development.Meanwhile, externally to the enterprise, in the forest community, a social movement called Babassu Livre had already begun to emerge.Through Babassu Livre's work (Matos et al., 2015), which contributed to changes in legislation, coconut breakers now have the legal right of free access to collection sites, many of which are privately owned.Notably, despite the provisions of the legislation, conflicts remain regarding access for collection.In parallel with Babassu Livre's actions, the company redesigned its entire babassu supply chain and its relationship with stakeholders, as discussed further below.
According to the director, the culture of sustainability emanates from the founding partner, permeating all levels of the company.Long-term planning is essential in this case, given the babassu characteristics, and the related need to involve a large number of partners and a broad forestry area.Among the various external stakeholders, adaptations in the ways of relating to the company have been considerable, and have been taking place for at least 15 years.

Internal Social Sustainability
All respondents from the company indicated that they are familiar with and understand the company's policies regarding sustainability.The communication process is transparent.Moreover, human resource management is based on specific training programs for each function.
The interview responses highlighted that the development of technological innovations, which allowed the full use of babassu, has led to social sustainability actions.The innovations enabled the use of entire babassu coconuts, in larger production volumes, generating the need for alignment and expansion of the collection chain.Internally, the company invested in environmental management, circular economy practices, and other related areas, all of which necessitate ongoing improvement of careers and qualifications in addition to supporting the need to retain talent.
The company has implemented babassu handling techniques throughout the area where pickers and coconut breakers operate.In parallel, it has established training in these techniques for farmers, pickers, coconut breakers, and micro-entrepreneurs.The incidence of unnatural fires due to lightning has drastically reduced and babassu productivity has increased, which increases the income of the communities involved.

External Social Sustainability
For stakeholders external to the company, the greatest legacy in terms of social sustainability involves their relationship with the company, and the remuneration for their coconut collection and delivery service.

The company's practices have helped a lot in the social development of our region of Bico do Papagaio and Legal Amazon (Micro-entrepreneur A).
In the early days of the company, dozens of coconut breakers collected coconut on farms, often without the owner's permission; they then manually broke the outer shell to extract the kernel, and either produced the oil themselves or marketed the kernel to the company.A strong cultural aspect is involved; many coconut breakers wanted and continue to want to preserve the tradition, passed from mother to daughter for generations, of breaking coconuts with a machete.It is a collective activity, reserved for women, which establishes a strong social bond and mutual support.
The company, following its technological development and at the beginning of the commercialization of activated carbon, began to buy entire coconuts collected by pickers, some of whom were former coconut breakers.To do so, the enterprise developed an entire innovative logistics for the collection and delivery of coconuts to the company.For example, it established agreements with farmers for access to collection sites in exchange for ensuring proper management of the babassu forest.Further, the geographical area was divided into groups of pickers, and for each area a micro-entrepreneur was assigned to receive the coconuts, group them and pass them on to the company, followed by receiving the remuneration and paying the pickers.Through these arrangements, the company was able to establish guaranteed raw material in sufficient quantity, and further was able to guarantee the purchase of all the coconut collected in the areas covered by its operations.There is concern about the generation of fair income for stakeholders outside the company who are involved with the raw material chain.All respondents from the group of stakeholders outside the company highlighted the humanization of the teams, the environmental improvement, and even the productivity of the forest.
We had a lot of difficulties breaking the babassu coconut to sell the kernels, and to receive a low price for the hard work we did.More we could not complain, as it was what we could do at the moment, there was no other alternative.Babassu has always served me and it still serves me today, with all the difficulty I graduated my children in college breaking coconuts (Coconut breaker A).
The interviews provided evidence for the enterprise's responsibility for cultural and human capital of the coconut breaker communities who wish to continue the traditional activities (Figure 4).The company, in agreement with these communities, established areas where coconut breakers can collect their coconuts and follow the manual process of breaking and extracting the kernel; if they afterward want to sell to the company, it buys the product.
It was necessary to divide the place of breaking and collecting the coconut to mitigate conflicts because, due to a local cultural issue, there was resistance from the breakers to sell the whole coconut, preferring to sell the kernel that they extract manually with the aid of an ax (Production supervisor).
Previously, there had been constant conflicts between the company and the coconut pickers and breakers.The sectioning off of access areas for pickers and coconut breakers, agreed with them and farmers, has ensured that babassu coconuts from indigenous lands can be collected exclusively by indigenous people if they so wished.There is no commitment by the indigenous people to collect and provide coconuts for the company, but if they do, specific micro-entrepreneurs act as the contact channels.This practice has eliminated the prior conflicts.
There is no efficiency in public inspection; the environmental agents that are supposed to inspect are in the area but have no interest in inspecting.The interest in supplying the babassu coconut to the company is not due to obligation, but for convenience and in accordance with the needs of the indigenous village (Indigenous Chief).

Sustainable Development Commitment
Respondents from the company framed the enterprise's need for a long-term vision to develop innovative technologies, reposition itself in the market, and reorganize the supply chain, as a basis for implementing social sustainability measures.External factors are also present, including delays in drafting and approving babassu protection laws, deficiencies in public inspection, and threats arising from palm plantations in babassu areas.To overcome these barriers, all stakeholders indicated that they understood it would be necessary to establish a new way of handling and using babassu.Initially, the forest-dependent communities indicated they had experienced difficulty in understanding the company's proposal, until the new structure was understood and accepted.Ultimately, the company's commitment to sustainability-social, environmental, and economic-combined with the practices it adopted, led to the B Corp. certification from B Lab.To maintain certification, the company is required to periodically reassess its processes and compliance with several B Lab criteria, including social impact.This helps in monitoring the results of the enterprise's practices with forest-dependent communities.
The findings indicate that the drivers of social sustainability involve some elements not identified in the prior literature.The literature indicates that stakeholders' pressure could induce social sustainability practices (Govindan et al., 2021).In contrast, at the studied enterprise, market threats from the palm oil industry contributed to inspire a new business model.The studied enterprise's core product changed to activated carbon; implementing the new business model required technological innovation.Activated carbon production demanded a significantly larger amount of babassu coconut.This change necessitated development of a new, reorganized raw material chain.The success of the company's new way of operating with external stakeholders is based on a strong culture of sustainability and social commitment, evidenced by its eventual B Corp. certification.
Thus, the preliminary framework presented in Figure 1, based on our findings, includes the items 'market threats' and 'business model innovation' in Drivers for Social Sustainability, and 'technological innovation' in Internal Social Sustainability.Figure 5 illustrates the final framework, considering the commitment to sustainable development as a key element to molding a business model that includes social sustainability.
The next section presents discussion and conclusions.

DISCUSSIoN AND CoNCLUSIoN
This study aids in addressing the lack of research on social sustainability in BE literature (Govindan et al., 2021;Salvador et al., 2021).Understanding the ways in which an enterprise in the Amazonian Forest has implemented and leveraged social sustainability practices sheds further light on the field of BE research, and provides avenues to inspire other research and enterprises to examine, identify, and spread strategies and practices for a better world.This study has provided four particular contributions to the literature.First, it contributes to BE literature by proposing a framework for social sustainability in forest-based BE enterprises (Figure 5).This framework advances the findings of the few studies in BE-related social sustainability (D'Amato et al., 2017;Govindan et al., 2021;Salvador et al., 2021;Sanz-Hernández et al., 2019) encompassing its main elements.The proposed framework enables improved understanding of the drivers, the internal aspects, and the external aspects of social sustainability.The literature review indicates this proposal may be the first framework for social sustainability in forest-based BE enterprises.
Second, prior research has rarely analyzed social sustainability from the viewpoint of external stakeholders.This study contributes to the literature by indicating that successful external social sustainability practices arise from the ability of the studied enterprise to mold its business model according to the forest-dependent communities' traditions, rather than following the opposite expectation that communities should adapt themselves to new ways of life.This result, initially rooted in the idea pointed out in the prior literature regarding the presence of different perceptions of value from multiple stakeholders who are not used to working together (Mertens et al., 2019), goes further.The case study shows that taking into consideration the perspectives of forest-dependent communities to implement socially sustainable, long-term partnerships between the communities and the enterprise, as well as mutual interest in preserving the natural resources, provide a solid basis for social sustainability.The presented results bring other perspectives related to models to leveraging the preservation of rainforest through payment for environmental services (Rivas, Kahn, Freitas, Hurd, & Cooper, 2013).Also, this study reinforces the importance of managing forest and land to guarantee the sustainability of the ecological systems (Petridis et al., 2018), and social justice (Rivas et al., 2013).
Third, concerning internal social sustainability, the prior literature has pointed out aspects related to internal communication, training, and career programs as relevant (Govindan et al., 2021;Vainio et al., 2019).This study contributes to the body of research by adding the role of technological innovation as an additional element that has supported social sustainability.The findings complement (Lumbanbatu & Aryanto, 2015) by showing that technological innovation allowed the enterprise to introduce circular economy practices and to use all parts of the babassu coconut.These new practices have enabled the enterprise to occupy a new position in the market, and have increased the demand for babassu.This study contributes to the body of literature by indicating that this context reinforces the need to align technological innovations with a revised supply chain structure, which both support and benefit from social sustainability practices.
Fourth, this study contributes to the literature by indicating that the B Corp. Certification from B Lab can induce an enterprise to permanently monitor its social, environmental, and economic impacts.The B Certification, for the studied enterprise, was a consequence of its sustainability commitment, rather than an end desired in itself.Although the literature examining Benefit Corporations discusses the certification criteria (Kirst et al., 2021), this study complements and further develops existing research by indicating how a BE enterprise restructured its business model and practices to achieve social sustainability.These findings provide an opportunity for academics and practitioners to rethink businesses and their social contributions to a better world.
In addition, this study provides useful considerations for those working in the managerial and public policy fields, who are involved in preserving or rescuing local forest-dependent communities' cultures.Long-term perspective is essential in the context of forest BE, due to the cycle of production and the need for forest preservation.Both enterprises and policy makers should understand the cultural and social issues of forest-dependent communities and establish strategies and practices based upon them, as opposed to expecting communities to change social values to adapt themselves to economic or political groups.Moreover, for the managerial field, this study reinforces the relevance of investment in technological innovation.New technologies should improve use of natural resources and forest preservation, while enhancing products' market competitiveness.
As with any research, this study includes both limitations and further avenues for advancement.This study does not evaluate the wider social impacts, which represents an area for discussion in future studies.In addition, this study does not analyze the perspectives of the market or customers, nor how they consider social sustainability; this area thus presents an opportunity for scholars to continue exploring the groundwork this study has laid.Further, in non-timber forest BE, further exploration of environmental sustainability and how it has affected or been inter-related with social and economic sustainability appears as a new avenue for research.Comparing the social sustainability performance between Benefit Corporations and non-certified enterprises could also provide insights to improve understanding of whether B Certification is related to social impacts from BE enterprises.
This study has examined a case in which an area of the Amazonian Forest, particularly babassu coconut, and forest-dependent communities' values and culture, have been supported and preserved through the work of a BE enterprise.This study has shed light on a controversial and under-studied area, indicating that production requires preservation, and preservation requires long-term commitment.

CoMPETING INTEREST
All authors of this article declare there are no competing interest.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Preliminary theoretical framework for social sustainability in bioeconomy

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Babassu area and location of the studied enterprise Figure 3. Babassu collected for the enterprise Figure 4. Coconut breakers

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Framework for social sustainability in the studied bioeconomy enterprise in the Amazonian Forest This research was supported by National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [Grant Number: 312395/2022-1] and Research Support Foundation of the State of RS [Grant Number: 21/2551-0002168-3.