28 May 2012: A regional workshop trained national officials from the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) member countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela involved in the project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for “the integrated and sustainable management of transboundary water resources in the Amazon Basin, taking into consideration climate variability and change.” The project is commonly known as the “GEF Amazonas Project.”

The workshop, held 23-26 May 2012 in Brasilia, Brazil, introduced the proposed Integrated Information System (IIS) on water resources in the Amazon River Basin. According to ACTO, the IIS is a user-friendly technology platform that will enable storing, organizing and classifying relevant information on water resources in the Amazon Basin under pressure from man-made activities and climate change, for web-based access by national governments and the general public. Once implemented, the System will be administered by the ACTO Secretariat, which will add in information about related projects on environmental protection, health, tourism, education, science and technology, and indigenous affairs.

The workshop also featured training of national coordinators, organized by Brazil’s National Water Agency (ANA) and featuring experts from Brazilian universities and ANA, in the main concepts of integrated management of transboundary water resources and climate variability and change involved in the GEF Amazonas Project. The Workshop also briefed project coordinators on the communications tasks involved in managing the project, and the key actors and communications media to engage in the project’s education and social participation components.

The GEF Amazonas Project, approved by the GEF Council in 2009, seeks to strengthen the institutional framework among members of the eight ACTO member States to plan and execute, in an integrated and coordinated fashion, a common strategy and action programme for the integrated management of water resources and adaptation to climate change. The Project is implemented by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and executed by ACTO. [ACTO Press Release]