The babassu palm is a native Brazilian plant, and in the Northeast region, mainly in the state
of Maranhão, babassu trees are found in greater abundance. This work aimed to review the
literature on economic, environmental and social aspects of babassu extractivism. All the
work was developed based on literature references found in the Web of Science and Scientific
Electronic Library Online (Scielo) and Science Direct databases, with a total of 35 works
between 1973 to 2022. In the survey carried out, it was noted that the production of plant
extractivism in Brazil has been growing in the last five years, since 2016 with a slight drop in
2019, when it comes to the babassu market it was no different, because in the state of greatest
reference, Maranhão, there is a decline also in the same year, however, the market shows a
recovery trend already in the year 2020. For the exploration of conservation units (UC's), the
main law in force is Law nº 9985 (SNUC), which deals with the use of natural resources in a
sustainable way, which guarantees the protection of babassu trees in their UC's. There are
municipal laws with the same purpose, protection of babassu, but they are specific laws for
the exploitation of babassu in regions with culture in the exploitation of this palm. The
babassu palm has a characteristic that favors the production of several products, the full use of
the whole fruit, the epicarp, mesocarp, endocarp and almonds are all used. The extractive
culture is passed on between generations to ensure the livelihood of many families, being quite
common in small towns, as exemplified by the testimony of an extractive woman, who has
practiced the exploitation of babassu since she was a child. Thus, babassu is a very important
non-timber forest product for communities and the local economy.
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