Peru’s Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal and U.S. Ambassador to Peru Brian A. Nichols highlighted the significant efforts undertaken by the Initiative for Conservation in the Andean Amazon (ICAA) in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
ICAA celebrated its 10th anniversary in an official ceremony attended by authorities, specialists, academics and the company’s representatives.
Pulgar-Vidal expressed his gratitude for USAID’s long-term presence in Peru, and for the progress its programs have made towards environmental conservation, as is the case of the ICAA project.
Such program supports communities to develop economic capacities in forests, without affecting the environment, the minister indicated.
According to Nichols, ICAA has promoted better practices of natural resources management by providing support to indigenous people, with the aim of boosting real economic alternatives such as sustainable forest management, ecotourism and forest products certification.
Between 2006 and 2016, the project brought over 10 million hectares under improved management, trained 108,000 locals and authorities in priority environmental issues, and implemented several agreements, regulations and policies to ensure sustainable development in the Amazon biome of the three countries.
Created by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ICAA is a long-term regional program that brings together and integrates the efforts of more than 30 partner organizations, both local and international, to strengthen conservation of the Amazon biome in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Andina 23 de marzo de 2016
