Poster: Challenges of an Integrated Management of the Transboundary Water Resources in the Amazon River Basin

Norbert Fenzl, Amazon Project Abstract: "In recognition of the hydrographical unity of the Amazon Basin and in order to address the need for coordinated action, the Basin countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela) members of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) decided to submit and execute the GEF project “Integrated and Sustainable Management of Transboundary Water Resources in the Amazon River Basin Considering Climate Variability and Change” (ACTO/GEF/UNEP). The project seeks to strengthen the institutional framework to effectively initiate integrated water resources management issues within the world’s largest hydrographic basin, through planning and executing coordinated activities for the protection and sustainable management of the land and water resources of the Amazon River Basin, in the context of climate variability and change. The project will employ an innovative participatory mechanism as the basis for understanding current and expected IWRM challenges and issues. Such an understanding is the foundation upon which a sustainable and responsive Strategic Action Program (SAP), comprising program of capacity building, institutional strengthening, application of feasible economic instruments, and meaningful social and economic advancement, can be developed. The challenges of the Amazon Basin region are numerous to the sustainable utilization of land and water resources as the region experiences exponential socio-economic growth and intense internal migratory flows and immigration. The complexity of the issues, coupled with a rapid rate of change in an environment requires the implementation of a process that will help minimize risks associated with deforestation, climate variability and change, and conflicts regarding the use of water and natural resources, while creating a strong foundation upon which to build a Strategic Action Program (SAP) that will address transboundary water resources management concerns shared by Basin countries."

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