IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) and Unamaz (Association of Amazonian Universities) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Wednesday (21) to implement joint projects in the Amazon region.
Unamaz brings together 75 universities and higher education institutions from the countries that are part of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT): Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The partnership aims to promote collaborative initiatives aligned with key themes such as climate change, human populations, traditional knowledge, health and environment, and Amazonian biodiversity.
“This is a very significant moment. In the field of education, we intend to focus particularly on elementary and secondary education, fostering ecological awareness. Respect for the environment—integrating science, technology, and innovation—is our core mission,” said José Seixas Lourenço, President of Unamaz.
According to André Guimarães, Executive Director of IPAM, Brazil must remain committed to the pending discussions of COP30, to be held in Belém, especially regarding the roadmaps to end deforestation and to phase out fossil fuels. In this context, Amazonian institutions can play a key role in building solutions.
“The Amazon has the opportunity to lead this process. The decline in deforestation rates shows that we know how to move forward. Therefore, I believe that an initial step should be for Amazonian institutions to come together to strengthen the roadmaps initiated at COP30,” Guimarães stated.
For the President of Unamaz, encouraging broad engagement in this mobilization is one of the partnership’s first goals. “All our rectors across the Amazon—not only in Brazil—are joining forces so that, throughout this year, we can consolidate what was announced during COP,” he said.