The first meeting of forest authorities of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) agreed on a set of common activities during the International Year of Forests (IYF) and on guidelines for medium- and long-term cooperation under ACTO's Strategic Agenda for Amazonian Cooperation.
Among the planned activities to commemorate the IYF is a regional workshop on the vision of Amazon countries regarding their forests for Rio+20.
31 March 2011: The first meeting of forest authorities of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), held in Bogotá, Colombia, from 29-30 March 2011, agreed on a set of common activities during the International Year of Forests (IYF) and on guidelines for medium- and long-term cooperation under ACTO’s Strategic Agenda for Amazonian Cooperation.
The meeting brought together the forest authorities and foreign ministries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guayana, Peru and Suriname. To commemorate the IYF, the authorities agreed to, inter alia: undertake activities regarding prevention, management and combat of forest fires; convene a regional workshop in preparation for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) on “Vision of Amazonian Countries Regarding Their Forests for Rio+20”; an agenda of international activities to set out an ACTO position on Amazonian forests; and a photo contest.
In her opening address to the meeting, Sandra Bessudo Lion, High Presidential Counselor for Environmental Management and Biodiversity, urged ACTO member States to strengthen joint efforts to conserve and sustainably use Amazonian forests as the globally strategic ecosystem they represent.
The forest authorities agreed to hold their second meeting in Bolivia in the first quarter of 2012, at which time they will assess the results of IYF efforts. [ACTO Press Release]