As part of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) in Montreal, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), through the BIOMAZ project, held, on Thursday (12/8), the side event of the pre-launch of the Rapid Assessment of Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Services in the Amazon Region.
The hybrid event, which had more than 100 participants, was opened by the General Secretariat of ACTO, Alexandra Moreira and moderated by researcher Rodrigo Moreno, of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute, partner of ACTO.
The agenda of the event was composed of an opening panel that was attended by the president of the Intergovernmental Platform Science-Policy on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Ana Maria Hernández; the director of the Department of Sustainable Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Ambassador Leonardo Athayde; of the strategic coordinator of the Scientific Panel by Amazonia (SDSN), Emma Torres and; of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Jillian Campbell.
At the time, the General Secretariat of the ACTO highlighted the importance of the Evaluation for the Amazon region. “This Evaluation is a demonstration of ACTO’s commitment to the search for and promotion of an alternative development model that preserves the standing forest, conserving biodiversity while generating socio-economic and development opportunities for its inhabitants. “He also said that climate change negatively affects the Amazon, where three-quarters are losing their resilience to these impacts, diminishing the benefits people receive from nature.”
The head of the Brazilian delegation, Ambassador Athayde, reiterated the role of the ACTO in coordinating actions for the good management of Amazonian biodiversity.
Forming the high-level panel for the pre-launch of the Evaluation, Emma Torres congratulated ACTO and stressed the importance of joint efforts for the region.
In the following panel, the preliminary results of the Evaluation among them, analyses on biodiversity, the economy and society of the Amazon region were presented by the co-president of the Rapid Assessment, Sandra Acebey.
In the second block, representatives of the Member States and scientists carried out reflections on the Evaluation and its preliminary results and on the next steps and measures to be taken. This block was attended by the Director General of Geopolitics of Living and Well-being and Foreign Policy of the Vice-Presidency of Bolivia, Diego Pacheco; scientist Braulio Dias, the Scientific Panel for the Amazon (SDSN) and others.
Soon after, questions were opened from the public in order to discuss and bring more dialogue to the event and answer questions about the Evaluation process and its findings.
