Amazon Regional Observatory moves forward

Mandate of Foreign Ministers entrusted the SP/OTCA to develop the Amazon regional information platform.

The development of the Amazon Regional Observatory (ORA) by the Permanent Secretariat of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (SP/OTCA) is progressing. The conclusion of the conceptual and methodological design of ORA by the consultancy Excelencia Corporativa (EXCO) allows practical steps to be taken in the implementation of ORA SP/OTCA.
The Amazon Regional Observatory is an official information platform on Amazonian countries whose development is the result of a decision adopted in 2011 during the XI Meeting of Foreign Ministers that instructed SP/OTCA to develop the Observatory. Since then, working groups have discussed the concept, characteristics and format of the platform, as well as the basic management structure and the processes and mechanisms for transferring official information. A special place in ORA will be given to the module on biodiversity and CITES species in the eight Amazonian countries, reported in Bioamazonia Bulletin No. 5.

The next step will be to contract specialized companies for the creation and implementation of the ORA online platform and the construction and implementation of the CITES thematic module linked to ORA.

As part of the analysis for the specific scope of the Biodiversity and CITES Observatory, the need was identified for an evaluation of the current state of the information systems in each ACTO Member State – Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The analysis carried out by the consulting firm EXCO involved visits and dialogue with the countries to identify needs and expectations and generate a baseline.
The first phase of operational implementation consists of the development of the platform software and the implementation of the CITES thematic module, which will be made possible thanks to the German Development Bank. (KfW), which is financing the Regional Project for the Management, Monitoring and Control of Fauna and Wildlife Species Threatened by Trade (Project Bioamazonia).

According to ACTO’s Technical Advisor, Diego Pacheco Balanza, the development of the Regional Amazon Observatory will generate innumerable benefits not only for the Amazonian countries, but for society in general. Among these benefits are: i) Provide a repository of official information from Amazonian countries; ii) Strengthen the process of exchange of experiences; iii) Strengthen the Amazonian regional vision; iv) Have a record and memory of the region through regional monitoring actions; v) Provide data and information to stimulate political and technical dialogue to discuss public policies among Amazonian countries.

“The Amazon Regional Observatory is a great desire of the Amazon countries that begins to become a reality in the current management of the SP/OTCA, under the leadership of Alexandra Moreira, General Secretariat of the Organization and a team committed to this goal”, stated Diego Pacheco.

Source: Bioamazonia Project – ACTO