Pará and French Guiana discuss scientific cooperation for the Amazon
The State of Pará, through the Amazon Foundation for Support to Studies and Research (Fapespa), participated this Wednesday (30) in a meeting with representatives of the Economic, Social, Environmental, Cultural and Educational Council of French Guiana (CESECE) with the aim of strengthening joint actions within the framework of the Interreg Program for Amazon Cooperation (PCIA).
Partnerships focused on science, technology, and innovation were among the topics discussed in the meeting, highlighting the role of Fapespa as a facilitator between French Guiana and Pará institutions.
The meeting was attended by members of CESECE, a council composed of 60 members from civil society and the business sector, and discussed initiatives aimed at benefiting both French Guiana and the State of Pará, through integrated regional projects in the Guiana Plateau.
During the meeting, Professor Marcel Botelho, president of Fapespa, highlighted the advances in regional cooperation but also pointed out the bureaucratic challenges and the slowness that still characterize the integration process between Amazonian territories. He emphasized, however, the importance of initiatives such as student mobility, economic interests related to port logistics, and the appreciation of Amazonian products, such as açaí, babaçu, and nuts.
"The challenge is to transform the potential of cooperation into concrete results. Overcoming bureaucratic hurdles is essential for projects to advance more swiftly," Botelho stated.
Biodiversity – Studies indicate that the Amazon has enormous potential for generating innovation, production, processing, marketing, and consumption of products derived from biodiversity, making the bioeconomy a new economic matrix for development based on sustainability. And transnational and cross-border collaboration is seen as essential to consolidate joint solutions and leave a lasting legacy for the Amazon.
The meeting also highlighted the synergy between the studies presented by CESECE and the technical productions of Fapespa, reinforcing the convergence of objectives and strategies between the two institutions.
On this occasion, Janie Cesto, President of the Commission for Cooperation, Immigration, and the European Union evaluated the meeting: "We are very happy to have this first contact with the state of Pará, with the president and the technicians from Fapespa and to see how we will organize and envision the partnership that we will establish between us. It was a very productive meeting, as we realized that we have the same challenges and objectives. And the same willingness, above all. We left the meeting with negotiations underway," she assessed.
Amazônia Exchange - Since August 2024, Pará has officially joined the Interreg Program for Amazon Cooperation (PCIA), managed by the Territorial Collectivity of French Guiana (CTG) and supported by funding from the European Union. The program focuses on sustainable development and the integration of countries and states in the Guiana Plateau region. At the time of joining, the term was signed in Cayenne by the president of CTG, Gabriel Serville, in the presence of the president of Fapespa, who represents the State of Pará in the PCIA.
Today's meeting reinforces Pará's commitment to consolidating strategic ties with international partners, promoting science, innovation, and economic development in a collaborative and regionalized manner.
Amazônia +10 Initiative – During the meeting, other possible ways to enable partnerships were also discussed, among them 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 the interaction between nature and society and the sustainable and inclusive development of the region, in July 2022. It is a project of the National Council of State Foundations for Research Support (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 S&T 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 the bioeconomy production chains, food generation, pharmaceutical production, clean energy generation, ensuring access to basic services for the 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 contemplated 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.
