Pará and French Guiana align strategic cooperation for the Amazon
This first formal dialogue between the representatives marks a step forward in bilateral relations and reinforces Pará's role in Amazon integration
Continuing the cooperation program, the Government of Pará, through the Amazon Foundation for Support to Studies and Research (Fapespa) and the Territorial Collectivity of French Guiana (CTG), held a strategic meeting in Belém on Wednesday (25), aimed at strengthening regional cooperation within the Amazon Cooperation Interreg Program (PCIA).
This first formal dialogue between the representatives marks a step forward in bilateral relations and reinforces Pará's role in Amazon integration. The expectation is that the articulation will result in joint projects, knowledge exchange, and actions focused on addressing climate change, sustainable development, and regional capacity building.
The meeting brought together the president-director of Fapespa and Pará's representative in the PCIA, Dr. Marcel Botelho, and the permanent representative of CTG in Pará, Professor Christian Haridas, along with their respective technical teams. The meeting was held at the CTG office in the capital of Pará.
Partnerships focused on science, technology, and innovation were among the topics discussed in the meeting, highlighting Fapespa's role as a facilitator between French Guiana and Pará institutions.
Exchange - In August 2024, Pará became part of the Amazon Cooperation Interreg Program - PCIA, a program managed by the Territorial Collectivity of French Guiana - CTG, which receives financial support from the European Union for the development of the Guiana Plateau region. Pará's representative in this program is the president-director of Fapespa, who participated in the launch of the PCIA in Cayenne, where the adhesion term was received by the president of CTG, Gabriel Serville.
Amazônia +10 Initiative - During the meeting, possible ways to enable partnerships were also discussed, among which the Amazônia +10 Initiative was pointed out as a strategic avenue for cooperation in research and development, especially through the University of Guiana.
The Amazônia +10 was conceived to support research and technological innovation in the Legal Amazon, promoting nature-society interaction and the sustainable and inclusive development of the region, in July 2022. It is a project of the National Council of State Foundations for Support to Research (Confap), the National Council of Secretaries for Science, Technology, and Innovation (Consecti), and has the partnership of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).
The initiative aims to promote convergent actions in R&D that strengthen guidelines, axes, and proposals of the Strategic Planning for Sustainable Development of the Amazon, aiming to overcome obstacles for reforestation of degraded areas, the development of low greenhouse gas emission agricultural activities, the addition of value in bioeconomy production chains, food generation, pharmaceutical production, clean energy generation, and ensuring access to basic services for populations living in the region, among others.
And the main driver of the Amazônia +10 Initiative in Pará is Fapespa, which already manages five of the 36 projects covered in the first call, and another 13 of the 22 projects from the second call. These are projects presided over and guided in three major thematic axes: Territory, Peoples of the Amazon, and Strengthening Sustainable Production Chains.
Biodiversity - Studies indicate that the Amazon has enormous potential for generating innovation, production, processing, marketing, and consumption of products derived from biodiversity, making bioeconomy a new economic matrix for development based on sustainability.
“Transnational and cross-border collaboration, according to the participants, will be essential to consolidate joint solutions and leave a lasting legacy for the Amazon,” evaluates Botelho.
