A delegation from the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador paid a technical visit to the headquarters of the ACTO

Oct 11, 2022 | AMAZON REGIONAL OBSERVATORY | BIOAMAZON PROJECT

The purpose of this visit was to learn about the Amazon Regional Observatory and the Water Resources Situation Room.

A team from the MAATE took part, today (10), in a technical visit to the headquarters of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) in Brasilia, in the company of the Ambassador of Ecuador in Brazil, Carlos Alberto Velastegui. Directors and technicians from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) were also present. It was intended to participate in a technical meeting on the Amazon Regional Observatory (ARO), which was developed by ACTO and has the support of MAATE.

The Amazon Regional Observatory is a Reference Center of Information related to the Amazon region, which facilitates the flow and exchange of information among institutions, government authorities, the scientific community, academia and civil society of the Member Countries of ACTO, on issues related to biodiversity, species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), water resources, forests and indigenous peoples; and it also provides data and thematic indicators of the Amazon Region.

ACTO’s Secretary General, Alexandra Moreira, welcomed the team members and recalled that CITES CoP 19 will be held in November. “It is important that the countries should recognize the importance of the Amazon Region and, at the same time, the relevance of ARO as a tool for information management in the Amazon that has been developed with the cooperation of all Amazonian countries,” she said.

The Executive Director of ACTO, Ambassador Carlos Lazary, pointed out that among the premises of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT), signed in 1978 by the eight Amazonian countries – Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela – are the promotion of scientific research and exchange of information and technical personnel among the competent agencies within the respective countries so as to increase their knowledge, and establish a regular system of proper exchange of information on the conservationist measures adopted or to be adopted by each State in its Amazonian territories. “By determination of the Treaty, ACTO is always engaged in promoting South-South cooperation”, he said.

The Ambassador Carlos Alberto Velastegui, stated that the MAATE team’s visit to Brazil has the purpose of promoting capacity building and exchange of experiences with ACTO and Ibama on biodiversity monitoring, combating species trafficking, CITES-listed species, among others. “We value the efforts made in collaboration with ACTO and Ibama”, he said.

The MAATE team, comprising six technicians from Ecuadorian territories, will be visiting different institutions in Brazil, assisted by the Ibama team in Brazil.

Source / Credits: OTCA News