It is an opportunity for the indigenous peoples of the region to be heard, as well as their solutions and suggestions in the face of the various ecological problems they face, which threaten their survival. (Photo:DW)

By María Josefina Arce

The Amazon Summit opens its doors in the Brazilian city of Belém de Pará, an opportunity to coordinate actions to save the largest tropical rainforest on the planet, home to some 400 indigenous peoples.

   More than 40 million people inhabit this vast jungle region, which is shared by eight South American countries and faces numerous threats such as deforestation, extractivism and constant attacks on the culture and identity of the indigenous communities, faithful guardians of the world's main lung.

   For this reason, experts stress the importance of the meeting being held in Belém do Pará, considered the gateway to northern Brazil and the main entry point to the Amazon.

   It is an opportunity for the indigenous peoples of the region to be heard, as well as their solutions and suggestions in the face of the various ecological problems they face, which threaten their survival.

For a long time, the indigenous peoples have been developing the so-called green economy, agroecology and other alternatives aimed at safeguarding the environment. 

This meeting follows the one held last July in the Colombian jungle city of Leticia, which was attended by the environment ministers of the eight nations that share this biome, and was joined by the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Colombia, Gustavo Petro.    

Parallel events were also held with the attendance of representatives of international organizations, civil society, the private sector, local and indigenous communities.

 The Belém de Pará meeting was also preceded by the so-called Amazon dialogues, also held in that Brazilian city, in which the different visions, proposals and demands of indigenous peoples, civil society and researchers were heard.   

Alexandra Moreira, general secretary of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, highlighted the importance of this event with an updated agenda and in which topics such as the urgency of including science, technology and innovation much more actively, must be in the search for a different model of development.  

Among the topics discussed in these days was also the resumption of Bolsa Verde, a program created in 2011 by the government of then President Dilma Rousseff, of the Brazilian Workers' Party.

 Through the Bolsa Verde, families living in poverty and residing in protected areas or reserves were paid to care for them with sustainable practices.

Let us hope that the Amazon Summit will lead to a serious commitment to adopt concrete, urgent and mandatory actions not only at the national level, but also at the regional level to protect this biome, which is vital for the fight against climate change and the survival of the entire planet.