FORESTS: AMAZON TREATY BODY HAILED AS MODEL FOR REGIONAL CONSERVATION EFFORTS

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 18 Apr 2013 11:00:01 -0400
Subject: FORESTS: AMAZON TREATY BODY HAILED AS MODEL FOR REGIONAL
CONSERVATION EFFORTS
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

FORESTS: AMAZON TREATY BODY HAILED AS MODEL FOR REGIONAL CONSERVATION EFFORTS
New York, Apr 18 2013 11:00AM
An eight-member grouping of countries working to ensure sustainable
development and improve the lives of local communities in South
America's Amazon – home to the world's largest tropical rainforest –
has been hailed as a model for regional cooperation at the tenth
session of the United Nations Forum on Forests
(<"http://www.un.org/esa/forests/index.html">UNFF10).

The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization
(<"http://www.otca.info/portal/">ACTO) is an intergovernmental body
aimed at promoting the sustainable development of an area spanning
over 7.5 million square kilometers – approximately 40 per cent of the
South American continent. It comprises Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,
Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

Jan McAlpine, Director of the Forum's Secretariat, hailed ACTO as
one of the "outstanding examples" of regional cooperation, as well as
South-South cooperation, when it comes to the conservation and
sustainable management of forests.

She noted that ACTO's core group is home to the world's largest
tropical forest basin, with 25 per cent of the world's freshwater
resources, "amazing" traditional and indigenous societies, major
reserves of timbre and non-timbre forests, and immense ecological,
cultural and economic wealth.

Member countries of ACTO, she added, represent the "leaders" in
thinking about how the issues of communities in the Amazon need to be
addressed.

"ACTO gives us the space, the platform to coordinate action. It is a
laboratory where we can build a common vision for sustainable
development," said Ambassador Mario Ruales Carranza of Ecuador, who is
also Chair of the Forum's current session in Istanbul.

The Amazon Basin, he noted, has huge reserves of energy and
mineral resources. "When we talk about the Amazon, we are talking
about one of the most important ecosystems in the world." However,
being a rich and diverse ecosystem, it also faces many pressures and
threats, he added.

ACTO was created in 1995 to strengthen the implementation of the
Treaty, which was signed in July 1978. The Treaty covers a range of
areas, including forests, water resources, monitoring and management
of endangered wild fauna and flora species, indigenous affairs, and
tourism.

The body's Permanent Secretariat was later established in Brasilia,
Brazil, in 2002. Its agenda focuses on two main areas: conservation
and sustainable use of renewable natural resources; and sustainable
development (improving the quality of life for the inhabitants of the
Amazon region).

Between 2011 and 2012, member countries implemented activities to
monitor forest cover, strengthen community management of forests,
identify additional resources for forest preservation, promote
awareness among the population of the Amazon, and promote
international cooperation to combat illegal logging, according to the
Executive Director of ACTO's Permanent Secretariat.

Mauricio Dorfler noted that the Amazon has the greatest continuous
forest coverage in the world, and is home to millions of species as
well as over 30 million inhabitants, including approximately 385
indigenous groups.

"The biological and cultural wealth is a comparative advantage for
the development of the region," he said. "But it also highlights the
need to reconcile the interests of conservation and sustainable
development with benefits for indigenous peoples and local
communities."

He said ACTO has been able, over the past two years, to carry out a
number of regional actions. Future challenges for the regional body
include consolidating institutional reforms and securing additional
funding for the Secretariat; expanding and diversifying sources of
cooperation; and giving greater visibility to the work of the
organization.

"I want to invite other international cooperation agencies and
governments to join this regional effort that shows that Amazon
countries together can cope with the challenges that arise," he
stated.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is currently in the
final stages of preparing a memorandum of understanding with ACTO to
strengthen collaboration between the two bodies in a number of areas
of mutual interest.

"Through this new cooperation agreement with ACTO, FAO is gearing up
to support integrated activities for improving production of goods and
services in the Amazon region in a sustainable manner, eradicating
hunger and reducing poverty and malnutrition, and improving
resilience of people and ecosystems," said FAO Forestry Officer Peter
Csoka.

The agreement is expected to be finalized and signed later this year.
Apr 18 2013 11:00AM
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