Daily Current Affairs

Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization

Geography and Environment Concept of Ecology

Context: Recently, the two-day meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) began in Belem, Brazil.

The member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) failed to agree on the goal to protect the amazon rainforest.
Colombia had proposed that 80 percent of the Amazon should be protected from deforestation and degradation by 2025 but did not find support from all the members.

ACTO is an intergovernmental organization aimed at the promotion of sustainable development of the Amazon Basin.
Member Countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
ACTO is an example of the only socio-environmental block in Latin America.
2004: ACTO was responsible for the Manaus Declaration, a treaty designed to coordinate the development of approximately 2.9 million square miles of rainforest.

It recognises Indigenous knowledge as a condition for biodiversity conservation.
It calls for ensuring full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in decision-making and public policy formulation processes.
The declaration recognises Indigenous knowledge as a condition for biodiversity conservation and calls for ensuring full and effective participation of Indigenous People.
In the Declaration member countries have also agreed to establish a new scientific body to conduct research and report annually on the state of the rainforest.

In addition, the Declaration promises closer cooperation between governments on other shared environmental priorities such as:

The Amazon Rainforest is often called the “Lungs of the Earth” because of its significant role in absorbing carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) and releasing oxygen through photosynthesis.
Flora: Myrtle, Laurel, palm, and acacia, as well as rosewood, Brazil nut
Fauna: Jaguar, Manatee, Tapir, Red deer, Capybara.