On the eve of COP28, IICA presents its Amazon Initiative and Partnership to a forum of Brazilian governors
Brasilia, 30 November 2023 (IICA) – In the city of Manaus, Brazil, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) delivered a presentation on its International Cooperation Initiative and Partnership for the Sustainability of The Amazon to governors and high-level authorities of the region, including its secretaries of Agriculture.
IICA Representative in Brazil, Gabriel Delgado, gave the presentation and shared a message from the Director General of the Institute, Manuel Otero.
The purpose of the event was to promote discussions on the preservation of the Amazon and to pose alternatives to ensure that the local population can play a leading role in making decisions on public policies for the region.
The meeting was attended by governors, the secretaries of Agriculture and the Environment, as well as representatives from colonization and land administration institutions from the nine Brazilian states that make-up the area designated as Brazil’s “Legal Amazon”.
IICA was invited to participate in the meetings preceding the governor’s forum, which was held in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state.
Delgado attended a technical meeting with the secretaries of Agriculture, the Environment and the Institutes of Lands, entitled “Food Systems in the Context of Climate Change and their Impact on the Amazonia”. Discussions in the meeting focused on bioeconomy-based agrifood systems with the capacity to foster the diversification of agricultural activities, through technology, effective water resource use, soil health and climate change mitigation.
It also covered issues such as land tenure regularization, the formalization of the Sectoral Chamber for Land Governance and regional strategic actions.
Delgado explained that, “IICA is developing international technical cooperation projects and initiatives; facilitating dialogue among various stakeholders; promoting technical, scientific and cultural exchange; and supporting the mobilization of funding and the search for multilateral financing. We also stand ready to provide political, technical and logistical support in the organization of COP30 in Belém”.
Cristina Costa, Technical Coordinator at IICA Brazil, outlined the key pillars of the initiative launched this year by IICA Headquarters and the projects that the Institute is carrying out in the Amazon region of Brazil and other Amazonian countries.
The aim of the Amazon Initiative and Partnership is to strengthen sustainable practices in the region; promote economic diversification; recognize and value ancestral knowledge; ensure scientific recognition and technological innovation; and to promote bioinput production, economic incentives to protect natural resources, regional cooperation and know-how, environmental education and awareness building.
Costa revealed that, “IICA, in collaboration with its partners, is promoting technical cooperation initiatives in the Amazonia; developing studies, methodologies and planning tools; producing publications and organizing events and training courses that highlight and recognize the importance of the region”.
She also pointed out that, “The Amazon Initiative covers a wide range of issues, including food and nutrition security, cooperation in water resource management, science, education and innovation, rural connectivity, climate change, the protection of forests, vulnerable ecosystems and biodiversity, environmental regularization of land use and a sustainable development economy”.
The Amazon Rainforests—a region spanning 6.7 million kilometers squared, 60% of which is in Brazil—is home to most of the planet’s fauna and biodiversity and is an area rich in plant, mammal and bird species.
During the meeting, the governors of the nine Brazilian Amazon states
(Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Roraima, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, Tocantins and Maranhão) published the Manaus Letter, defending the importance of ensuring sustainable and strategic management of the Amazonia.
They also announced mutual collaboration efforts taking place within the framework of a regional cooperation program for the prevention and control of deforestation and fires in the Legal Amazon.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int