Amazon countries sign pact to better protect the rainforest
(VOVWORLD) - Seven Amazonian countries on Friday signed a pact to protect the world’s largest tropical forest.
 Smoke billows from fires in Porto Velho in the Amazon state of Rondonia, Brazil on August 24, 2019. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
Addressing the signing ceremony in the city of Leticia, Colombian President Ivan Duque said the 7 countries will meet again at the UN Climate Change conference in December.
The countries will create a natural disaster network so they can better cooperate in the face of events like large-scale fires, the pact said, adding that the group will also work on reforestation initiatives, increase efforts to monitor deforestation activity via satellite, develop education initiatives and increase the role of indigenous communities in sustainable development. The countries also agreed to share information on activities like illegal mining that hurt conservation.
The number of fires in the Amazon so far this year has increased 72% against the same period last year.