In Amazonas, German president announces 35 million euros investment for the Amazon Fund

Ana Pastana – Cenarium Magazine*

MANAUS – The President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visited the State of Amazonas on Monday, 2, to know environmental actions and projects developed with the support of the German government. He announced investments of 35 million euros for the Amazon Fund, reactivated by the Lula Government to finance projects of deforestation reduction and inspection of the biome.

The visit to one of the main States of the Northern Region of the country occurred after Steinmeier’s participation in the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), in Brasilia, Federal District.

He was received by the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, in a guided visit to one of the main postcards of the State, the Amazonas Opera House. Wilson highlighted that the investments made by the German government, through an official cooperation, have generated fruits as actions to combat deforestation in the Amazon and encourage sustainable rural production in the state.

“My first official agenda as governor in this second term is the visit of the president of Germany, a very symbolic visit for the State of Amazonas, for the Amazon and for the world. Because this sends a message of the concern we have with the protection of our environmental assets, but above all the protection of the population”, stated Lima.

Among the environmental actions that count with the support of the German government is the Atto Tower, in São Sebastião do Uatumã (distant 247 kilometres from Manaus), which monitors the climatic conditions of the region and the greenhouse effect issues, coordinated by Brazilian and German researchers; a project aimed at farmers of incentive to the sustainable use of the soil in state conservation units; besides the project of structuring the headquarters of the State Environmental Secretariat (Sema) and of the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute (Ipaam).

The German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also knew the State System of Environment, along with a committee formed by ministers and secretaries of the German government. He was at the headquarters of the Center for Environmental Monitoring and Protected Areas (CMAAP) of the Institute of Environmental Protection of Amazonas (Ipaam), a reference in the region and also has German resources for its structuring.

For the Secretary of State for the Environment (Sema), Eduardo Taveira, the collaboration strengthens the command and control activities, and stimulates a new economic matrix compatible with the standing forest, which makes it possible, above all, to combat poverty among traditional populations.

“Germany has a fundamental role in the advances we have made in recent years, and our expectation is that we can continue with the projects financed through the Amazon Fund”, said Taveira.

The director-president of Ipaam, Juliano Valente, explained how the agency monitors the deforestation and fires data, stressing the importance of international cooperation, also, to ensure means for a prompt response to environmental crimes in the field. For him, the president’s visit is of utmost importance for the State’s environmental agenda.

“The presence of the German president in our State, especially in our Monitoring Centre, shows that the environmental agenda has regained the importance it deserves. It is clear that we take the opportunity to show the bottlenecks that hinder our work, hoping that we will benefit in some way from this visit”, said Valente.

Profloram

The German government has been supporting environmental protection projects in the Amazon since the 1990s. In the last five years, more than R$130 million have been invested in actions executed through the Amazonas Government.

One of the most important actions is the Project for the Prevention and Combat of Deforestation and Conservation of the Tropical Forest in the State of Amazonas (Profloram), which resulted in the construction of the new Sema headquarters, as well as four Multifunctional Centers for the decentralization of environmental activities, in Parintins, Boca do Acre, Humaitá and Apuí.

The second phase of Profloram also included the unprecedented remuneration of more than 230 forest brigades in 12 priority municipalities to help fight forest fires in the countryside of the State, as well as permanent acquisitions to structure the municipal brigades and equipment for aerial environmental monitoring.

The cooperation with Germany also made it possible to carry out the “Plantation without burning” project, which implemented demonstration units of plantations without the use of fire in seven State Conservation Units, with community incentive actions for agro-ecology and sustainable production systems.

The Amazon Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) project also receives German investment, in the component referring to the Amazon Protected Areas Program (Arpa), which assists the management of 24 UCs under State management.

(*) With information from the Press Office