The initiative is aimed at making forestry sustainable and profitable in the countries of the Andean region.
San Jose, March 12, 2010 (IICA). Finland and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) agreed in principle to work together to promote a program focused on the sustainable management of forests in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
The agreement is scheduled to be signed in April, once final details are ironed out.
According to members of the Finnish mission that visited IICA Headquarters, in Costa Rica, on March 11 to reach agreement on common positions and validate the program, the goal of this initiative is to reforest suitable areas and make forest sustainable and profitable.
Also participating in the conversations were the IICA Representatives in Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.
The Head of the Finnish mission, Luis Herrera, noted that they are interested in cooperation with IICA because it is an international organization with Offices in the beneficiary countries.
“Because what we are talking about is a regional program, if we were to sign an agreement with each of the countries, we would run the risk of ending up with a number of projects rather than a regional program,” Herrera said. He added that IICA offered them “an appropriate institutional platform, from a technical and political viewpoint, to be able to work in the countries from a regional perspective.”
The program will place emphasis on training, communication and dissemination. To this end, it will welcome the support of IICA’s Distance Education Center (CECADI).
Herrera pointed out that there is great potential for the development of forestry in the Andean Region in areas that have been abandoned, in some cases, in favor of mining and oil drilling. Finland is interested in helping to rehabilitate those areas by introducing profitable and sustainable activities which can help mitigate the effects of climate change.
One of the key points will be to improve the ways timber is used. In one of the Andean countries only 24% of the tree is used; in contrast, in Finland that figure is 96%, he said. He explained that this was due to deficient sawing practices and to the fact that much of the timber which could be used is thrown away.”
Herrera explained that projects submitted by the public or private sectors or civil society will all go through a selection process and those that are found to be innovative, sustainable and profitable will receive financing.
The initial cost of the program is six million Euros, which will be contributed by the Government of Finland.
IICA’s Director of Regional Operations and Integration, Victor del Angel, stated that the Institute’s participation would be in the form of technical cooperation.
In this regard, he stated that that meeting held with the Finnish mission “laid the groundwork for future efforts, which will now have to be fine tuned.” He added that, for IICA, the program created great expectations, and expressed the hope that this first step will lead to “a fruitful alliance” with Finland.
The program will be presented to the Finnish government in April to prepare the final text of the document. According to the plan, actions could get under way this year.
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