A platform for debating environmental issues

(Brasilia, September 22, 2010).- More than 50 government representatives from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela took part in the International Seminar on Policies, Strategies, and Action for Controlling Deforestation in Latin America organized by CAF and held in Brasilia.

The Brazilian Government’s successful policies were the starting point for two days of reflection and sharing of information among Latin American specialists. Luis Enrique Berrizbeitia, CAF’s executive vice-president, said during the opening ceremony that "Brazil’s experience provides a successful model for combating deforestation” and added that CAF’s idea in organizing the seminar was to create a platform for debating issues that will contribute to the sustainable development of the region, in particular in environmental matters.

Izabella Teixeira, Brazil’s Environment Minister, explained the policies implemented in her country and invited the other nations present to cooperate proactively in these issues. She also offered participating countries the method that Brazil has used successfully in this fight against deforestation, stating that “the region is strategic for the planet, as it is the reserve of what is considered the world’s biggest source of biodiversity and has nearly 20% of fresh water reserves.”

Teixeira explained that the method proposed by Brazil seeks to achieve a balance between the environment and economic development, adding finally that her country’s obligation to rescue Amazonia is due not only to environmental issues but to the 25 million people who live there.

The purpose of the seminar organized by CAF, Latin America’s development bank, was to present developments in policies, plans, and programs for controlling deforestation in countries of the region attending the event, placing special emphasis on Brazil’s experience in Amazonia, with a view to generating synergies and alliances among institutions responsible for these matters in order to reverse the loss of forests currently affecting Latin America.

Items on the International Seminar’s agenda included:

• The central problem of deforestation and experience in Brazil: Brazilian Deforestation Control Program
• Inspection procedures for the Deforestation Control Program in Brazil
• CAF and Sustainable Development: CAF’s environmental strategy
• Experience of the Amazonia without Fire Project - Brazil
• Emissions inventories based on plant coverage analyses
• The handling of Amazonian forests in Surinam
• Amazonia Fund – an International Climate and Forest Initiative of the Governments of Brazil and Norway