The Secretary General of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), Alexandra Moreira, participated in the opening and as a speaker, this Wednesday (2), of the event “Science by and for the Amazon”, held by the Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences (Ianas) and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), in Manaus (AM). The meeting brings together the scientific community of the Amazon countries, until this Thursday (3), in Manaus (AM), with the aim of promoting debate and generating contributions to the American continent for the Amazon Summit, which will be held on August 8 and 9.
Alexandra highlighted the importance of scientists for the advancement of public policies in each country for the Amazon region. “Scientists have become political actors. People are waiting for science to give us answers. It is a telling moment when we depend on science. Strengthening science and research has been one of the themes worked on at ACTO,” she said. During the lecture, the Secretary General briefly introduced ACTO and emphasized that the Amazon is not only Brazil and that it occupies a good afternoon of territories of other countries, such as Bolivia, Peru and Suriname. She also recalled that the Summit should strengthen cooperation among ACTO member countries.
Another subject addressed by Alexandra was the Amazon Regional Observatory (ORA), which integrates official data from public and scientific institutions of the eight ACTO member countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela) with the aim of providing information and monitoring the Amazon Basin, such as rivers on floods and droughts and forests on fires and hotspots. “The Amazon has a huge diversity and science can contribute a lot to the policies for this region”, she added.
The first woman at the head of ABC, the president, Helena Nader, highlighted the importance of scientists coming together in favor of the Amazon. “We want scientists from all countries in the Amazon to adopt a political program and create a network to work together. We need cooperation, we need to collaborate,” she said.
Participating in the opening table of the event were representatives Karen Strier, IANAS; Antonio Otávio Ricarte, Ambassador of Itamaraty; Marcia Barbosa, from the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MCTI); Braulio F de Souza Dias, from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA); Márcia Perales from the Amazonas State Research Foundation (Fapeam); Virgílio Almeida, TWAS-Lacrep and Marina Anciães, from the National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA).
SUMMIT
The Amazon Summit will be held in Belém (PA), Brazil, on the 8th and 9th to strengthen cooperation in the region. On the 7th, preceding the Summit, there will be a meeting between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Environment of the eight Amazonian countries. On the 10th there will be a meeting organized by IBGE with the various funding entities that will be present at the Summit. In addition to hosting the Summit, Brazil will hold the “Amazon Dialogues” from August 4 to 6 at the same venue.
