Summit ushers in “new era” for Amazon communities, nonprofit says

The two events slated to start Friday (Aug. 4) in Belém, Pará state—the Amazon Dialogues and the Amazon Summit—may represent “a new era” for local communities. In order for this to happen, nations must “join efforts” to protect key areas and boost regional income generation initiatives.

Such is the premise adopted by the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA) in its contribution to the Amazon Dialogues. In it, representatives of nonprofits, social movements, academia, think tanks, and government agencies from Brazil and other Amazon countries will meet to exchange suggestions for the reconstruction of sustainable public policies for the Amazon.

The outcome of these discussions will be presented to leaders during the Amazon Summit meeting on August 8–9. The presidents of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela are all expected to attend. Due to internal issues, Ecuador and Suriname have not yet confirmed the attendance of their heads of state, but have pledged to send representatives.

The eight nations are part of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), an intergovernmental organization making up Latin America’s only socio-environmental bloc.

Opportunities

The institute’s Policy Adviser Adriana Ramos described the Amazon Dialogues as “a great opportunity to share experiences with other civil society groups working in the Amazon.” The gathering, she went on, should be a great chance to find ways to improve strategies for the region, stepping up integration among countries.

“We expect that the summit of presidents will bring answers to the questions raised by civil society during the dialogues,” she told Agência Brasil.

“If the summit represents the beginning of an international joint effort for a more sustainable management of the region, then yes, it can mean a new era in the struggle of Amazonian society for a fairer and less predatory development,” she added.

The Socio-Environmental Institute builds partnerships with indigenous groups, quilombolas, and miners in the Xingu river basins in Mato Grosso and Pará states, in the Negro river basins in the states of Amazonas and Roraima, and in the Ribeira do Iguape river basin in São Paulo.

Dialogues

At the Amazon Dialogues, the institute, Ramos stated, should participate in debates on the protection of territories and the rights of indigenous people, quilombolas, and other traditional communities “by reporting its experiences in monitoring the territories.”

The organization is also set to join talks on the socio-biodiversity economy, discussing efforts to strengthen the economy of the standing forest.

“We’ll underscore that the effective implementation of protected areas and income generation projects for local communities are two crucial pillars for the sustainable development of the region,” she explained.

Concerns

Concerns have arisen, the adviser noted, about the insistence of some economic sectors—like mining—to promote “blatantly unsustainable proposals,” in addition to hindering social development.

“Developing the region in times of climate change is a challenge that requires innovation. We have to leave behind outdated models, but what we see instead is a great effort by political and financial sectors to maintain the status quo,” she argued.

A study conducted by the institute shows that municipalities where illegal mining occurs have even worse living conditions than the Amazon average, she pointed out.

“The average social progress index in mining municipalities is four percent lower than the Amazon average and 20 percent below the national average,” she cited, referring to the survey on the problems caused by mining for social progress in the Amazon.

Community-based tourism

In her view, one of the most promising activities for the sustainable economic development for the region is community-based tourism, as it values the maintenance and restoration of the forest.

“The development of the Amazon requires us to adopt new approaches and overcome the economic model based on export monocultures and the use of fossil fuels. In addition, archaeological studies in the region have shown that this Amazon we’re trying to conserve is the result of the traditional management by indigenous people and other communities. Therefore, beyond just conserving the forest for them, we need to ensure the maintenance of their traditional ways of life so that the forest can continue to exist, and resist,” she declared.

Changing attitudes

The global role of the Amazon for the climate must include a change of attitude from everyone. Therefore, in Ramos’s opinion, the maintenance of deforestation and degradation may lead to a point of no return, where the forest can no longer self-regenerate.

“There’s no time to lose. The Amazon is what it is because of its peoples, and the guarantee of their territorial rights and their ways of life is vital for the region to fulfill the role as global climate regulator,” she concluded.