Results of research from rural areas are rarely reported back to residents, who are often the people who could make best use of the information. Using a case study from the Amazon basin in Brazil, this paper demonstrated how data could be collected collaboratively then given a rigorous analysis for professional readership and a simple analysis and presentation for local people. The authors found that at their site about 80 % of residents were illiterate. They had often sold their rights to trees and land at low prices because they had little information on the value of forest resources. Interactive workshops, in which community members presented data through theatre, drawings and discussion, proved a popular and enlightening way of sharing knowledge about the uses and relative values of forest products.