Last week, leaders of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization’s eight member nations—Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela—convened for a two-day summit to discuss introducing new measures to protect the Amazon rain forest (AP News). Talks at the summit produced an environmental protection road map, “the Belem Declaration,” calling for action to reduce deforestation, fight organized crime, and promote sustainable development in the region (Guardian). The road map also outlines plans to open a law enforcement center in Manaus, Brazil, to encourage cooperation between regional police forces. 

Brazil is home to roughly two-thirds of the Amazon; the other seven countries share the remaining one-third (AP News). Scientists warn that when one-fifth to one-fourth of the Amazon is destroyed, rainfall will decrease, causing more than half the rain forest to become a tropical savanna. To the disappointment of environmentalists, the road map fell short of making any concrete commitments. Further, the summit did not result in a common goal of eliminating deforestation of the Amazon by 2030; Brazil and Colombia remain the only nations to have made that commitment (AP News). “It’s a first step. It was important for [these leaders] to come together but there isn’t much concrete in there. It’s a list of very generic promises. It was lacking something more forceful,” commented Marcio Astrini with the Climate Observatory group (Guardian).