International Waters learning Exchange & Resource Network

Regional actions promoting IWRM and climate change adaptation commence in the Amazon

The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is pleased to announce the start of activities of the Amazon Strategic Action Program (SAP) Implementation Project, a 4-year initiative supported by a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of US$ 11.7 million, with over US$ 140 million in-kind contribution from the basin countries. The Amazon SAP, which is the first basin-wide regional strategy oriented to strengthen Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), reinforce the Amazon communities’ ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and ensure basin-wide compatible information for coordinated decision-making, will be the focus of the project. The Amazon SAP was endorsed in 2017 by eight countries sharing the Amazon basin – Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.The largest tropical forest and the greatest freshwater system in the world meet in the Amazon. Covering more than 6 million km2, extremely rich in biodiversity, and discharging 15-20% of the global freshwater into the ocean, the Amazon is an essential element of the regional and global environment, hydrological cycle, and climate, providing fundamental ecological support for human activities and the well-being of its more than 40 million inhabitants.The eight Amazon countries signed the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (1978) to facilitate political dialogue and regional cooperation and subsequently created the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). Today, the Amazon basin faces numerous challenges in achieving integrated and sustainable management and protection of its precious water resources in a context of socio-economic development, anthropogenic pressure and climate change impact.

9770: Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme to Ensure Integrated and Sustainable Management of the Transboundary Water Resources of the Amazon River Basin Considering Climate Variability and Change

23 des. 2020

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