Georgetown : Guyana’s delegation, lead by the Mr. Robert Persaud, Minster of Natural Resources and the Environment, was engaged in intense discussions at the 2nd Meeting of Environment Ministers of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) held in Lima, Peru from March 20 to 21, 2012. According to a Government Information Agency release, representatives and Ministers of the Environment from Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela also participated. Discussions were primarily focused on ACTO’s Environmental Agenda and opportunities for strengthened regional cooperation among Amazonian countries. The Agenda was expected to support Guyana and other member states in regional efforts to manage protected areas, strengthen forest management, develop options to address climate change, tackle illegal mining, and target the illegal trade in flora and fauna. The meeting also provided member states with the opportunity to identify common positions in the context of the upcoming Conference on Sustainabl
e Development (Rio +20) scheduled for June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In his address, Minister Persaud called for increased coordination and information sharing between the various efforts to conserve the world’s remaining tropical rainforest. He reiterated the need for strengthened partnerships, both within the Amazon region and between the Amazon and the tropical rainforest basins in the Congo and Mekong/Borneo regions.
Throughout the meeting, Guyana’s delegation also stressed the need to support the innovative initiatives being implemented by ACTO countries to conserve rainforest and other Amazonian ecosystems. To this end, a call was made for the formulation of an international mechanism to provide consistent technical and financial support to forest conservation efforts. It is expected that the positions expressed by the Guyana delegation will be included in a Lima Declaration, which will be signed be all ACTO member countries. This Declaration will serve as the basis for ACTO’s priorities going into the Rio+20 conference.
Also representing Guyana were Mr. Damian Fernandez, Natural Resources Specialist, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and Mr. Tasreef Khan, Deputy Commissioner, Guyana Forestry Commission.
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