Sharing knowledge is a key factor for the Pan-Amazon region to combat climate change. For this reason, the eight countries within the biome (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela) decided to formalize international cooperation to protect the fauna, flora, water resources and inhabitants of the region. One of these partnerships is the creation of the so-called IPCC of the Amazon – a panel that will gather local scientific information to generate useful reports for political decision-making.
The acronym IPCC stands for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – a working group of scientists established by the United Nations to monitor and advise on global science related to climate change. The IPCC generates reports that show how the planet is reacting to human interference and provide governments with crucial data for making national and regional climate policy decisions. It also works as the basis for international negotiations on climate change.
Whereas the IPCC operates at the global level, the Amazon IPCC will now bring a joint vision of the region. This was one of the novelties announced during the “Amazon Summit”, held on August 8th and 9th, in Belém (PA). The meeting held by the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) brought together the heads of state of the eight countries in the region.
"The approved proposal was to create a similar mechanism to gather, on a single platform, the scientific data available on this wide region", explains the director of public policies and government relations at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Karen Oliveira. The director adds that the Amazon is already a highly studied biome, even though there is still a lot to be investigated. "There are still plant and animal species in the Amazon which have not yet been discovered", she points out.
CENTRALIZATION
However, scientific information is very dispersed, scattered among research institutions. "Some information is not even available in Brazil. So, the creation of this panel, along with scientists who have already devoted themselves to the matter and built other platforms, is an excellent opportunity to centralize information in a single place, receiving different contributions, having participatory and democratic governance, in order to also make this data more accessible", emphasizes Karen.
According to her, it can be expected that the Amazonian panel will have working groups similar to the IPCC, addressing issues such as biodiversity; sustainable use of the forest (including the bioeconomy); urban Amazon (pan-Amazonian cities); and relationship between climate change, greenhouse gases and existing carbon stocks in the region.
The actions of the IPCC in the Amazon will be headed by Brazil via the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). The Amazon is vital in the process of combating climate changes. It's the biome that concentrates the biggest diversity of the planet and plays a fundamental role in balancing it. With this scientific data, we will be able to accelerate the creation and implementation of solutions", reinforces Karen.
Brazil will transfer technology to neighboring countries
Another cooperation agreement signed during the "Amazon Summit" establishes that Brazil will transfer satellite monitoring technology to the countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO).
In a press interview, minister Luciana Santos informed that the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) [National Institute for Space Research], which monitors deforestation by means of satellite images from Earth observation, will train researchers and specialists from the Amazon countries for the implementation of biome monitoring programs in their territories.
“Everyone knows that INPE is a global reference in monitoring Brazilian biomes, especially the Amazon. It is this competence that makes us a ‘scientific power’ in Latin America and an important link in the construction of Brazil’s international relations”, said the minister.
MONITORING
Thus, ACTO countries will be able to learn how to use these technologies to make predictions and underlie public policies, as Brazil already does. Since 1973, the country has used satellite images to obtain an accurate image of its territories from an upper view. As of 1988, INPE's Prodes project began to monitor clear-cut deforestation (complete removal of the forest in an area) within the Legal Amazon. Basically, the images show how a territory ‘before and after’ and, by comparison, it is possible to observe how much of the vegetation cover was removed. Annually, the rate of growth or reduction of this deforestation process is provided. With this information, governments and forest preservation agencies can observe where the situation is most critical, where more attention is needed and, thus, develop action strategies.
In 2004, the Real Time Deforestation Detection System – Deter –, was created to carry out daily monitoring (unlike Prodes, which is annual). It serves to streamline environmental inspection and the use of police force if necessary. Deter generates rapid alerts so that agencies such as the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) can act immediately against deforestation. (A.M.)
Artificial intelligence is used to analyze images generated by satellites.
Several satellites provide the images analyzed by INPE, such as the American Landsat, the CBERS-6 (a result of a China-Brazil partnership), and the Amazonia 1, the first Earth observation satellite completely designed, integrated, tested, and operated by Brazil. However, more important than just having access to these data is learning how to interpret them. Therefore, it is important to train neighboring countries. Cláudio Almeida, Coordinator of the Monitoring Program for the Amazon and other Brazilian Biomes at INPE, says that similar training has already been conducted with other countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) between the years 2010 and 2014, by means of a project financed by the Amazon Fund – a mechanism that raises and manages monetary donations for the preservation of Amazonian biodiversity. "Sharing knowledge is a win-win. Sometimes you create a tool, but you only know a part of the information and can't even imagine other possibilities of use. When other colleagues start using it as well, they see new functionalities, and it is more likely to keep improving it more and more," believes the coordinator.
Now, the aim is to share the latest technology developed by INPE, which utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze images with high computational power, a compound called BDC (Brazilian Data Cube), and SITS (Satellite Image Time Series Analysis).
In less time, not only can you identify where there was a forest that turned into deforested area, but the information is also organized into patterns, distinguishing between clear-cut areas and those that turned into pasture, for example.
"You can achieve faster monitoring with this. However, in addition to this artificial intelligence, we continue to perform a comprehensive data verification with a highly skilled team that reviews what the machine produces. Our accuracy currently stands at 94% or higher for the analysis of this data," emphasizes Cláudio. The next step is to structure the project and organize the provision of resources to continue providing training to the other countries of ACTO.
"The Brazilian government's vision is to assist neighboring countries in developing their own monitoring systems, ensuring the sovereignty of each nation and their leadership in the analysis of this sensitive and strategic data," highlights Cláudio.
EXPECTATION
Ecuador is one of the countries that will receive the training, and according to Gabriela Saavedra, an expert in forest administration and control at the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition of the country, expectations are high. This is because their own national forest monitoring system, which has been operating since 2014, was created from cooperation within ACTO.
The system compiles, validates, and reports data using freely accessible satellite images, combined with field assessments. "The exchange of knowledge is crucial so that we can understand how things are being done in other countries, like Brazil, which we know has a “fortress” in terms of forest measurement. This is very important for us to develop our research and processes on the subject," states Gabriela.
For the specialist, this support provided by ACTO can also improve the definition of common concepts and methodologies. Basically, if everyone speaks "the same language" and follows the same parameters, they can join forces to make decisions at a regional and even global level. "As an Amazon region, it is fundamental that we adopt a joint position, as a block of countries, which can guarantee greater representation", she highlights.
"All this culminates in a macro objective: the conservation of the Amazon biome, because we know that here we have the lungs of the planet. The indigenous peoples and the water and forest resources that we have here are not replaceable", she warns. (A.M.)
Aldo Rebelo condemns the internationalization of the Amazon
If on the one hand there are the advantages of sharing information, on the other, there is a fear of how international partnerships can influence national sovereignty. This is what warns former federal deputy and former Minister of State Aldo Rebelo. "What I believe is that the federal government is taking important steps in the process of internationalization of the Amazon, which I consider reprehensible. We do not see an IPCC being created for forests in Europe, in the United States, because the countries do not share their sovereignty either in surveillance and control. I think the Brazilian government is losing track of this," he declares.
For senator Plínio Valério (PSDB-AM), president of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the news of pan-Amazonian cooperation also indicated a warning. "I'm always concerned when we talk about sharing knowledge, information or some data that could penetrate and influence our sovereignty, because knowledge is power", justifies the senator.
PARALLEL POWER
Invited by the CPI of NGOs, Rebelo told parliamentarians, on July 11 of this year, that the Amazon coexists with three parallel States. The first is the official one, which, according to him, is managed by city halls, agencies and government departments. The second consists of drug trafficking and organized crime. The third would be the NGOs, which Rebelo ranks as the most powerful and important, as it operates with the help of the State. According to him, who acted as rapporteur for the Brazilian Forest Code, organizations use resources from the Amazon Fund only to fulfill interests on the international agenda, neglecting important areas for the well-being of the population, such as health and basic sanitation.
Rebelo suggested to the members of the CPI that the Amazon Fund should be updated, so that resources are only allocated to public bodies and that NGOs no longer have access to it. For him, the CPI of NGOs plays a fundamental role in changing the rules and managing to limit the role of these organizations in the Amazon region.
