National Institute for Space Research, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization discuss partnership to expand Amazon monitoring

On Thursday (5), Brazil’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Santos, led a delegation with representatives of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) to the National Institute for Space Research [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais /INPE], in São José dos Campos (state of São Paulo), to discuss wildfire and deforestation monitoring, weather and climate forecasting, water resource management and geoprocessing.

INPE director Clezio De Nardin received ACTO Executive Director Vanessa Grazziotin and representatives of the organization's member countries. They highlighted the importance of formalizing the cooperation between institutions that handle satellite monitoring and environmental analysis in Amazon region countries.

“This work is not starting from scratch. INPE itself has successful previous experiences with international cooperation with Amazon countries, but we want to give it new momentum that is transformative and modernizing for our countries' capabilities, so that we can achieve autonomy and technological sovereignty as a region,” highlighted Minister Luciana Santos.

Director Clezio De Nardin emphasized the importance of cooperation for INPE and the common objectives with the institutions of the ACTO member countries in the areas of monitoring deforestation and fires, forecasting and responding to natural disasters and access to space.

“With the new agreement, mechanisms can be developed to share environmental monitoring technologies, systems and methodologies, which are fundamental for all countries in terms of Amazon preservation policies,” said Vanessa Grazziotin, pointing out that the organization's partnership with INPE is long-standing.

The idea is for INPE and ACTO to develop and share support systems for ecosystem management and georeferenced information bases. Training is also planned for analyzing information from remote sensors, generating thematic maps and techniques to support environmental risk prevention or management.

The partnership will include technical visits to strengthen the specific capacities of researchers working on different topics in the Amazon using georeferenced data. Events will also be organized to present jointly generated products and disseminate scientific information to society.

CBERS-5 satellite

During her visit to INPE's headquarters, the minister spoke about the importance of CBERS-5 to strengthen space cooperation between the Amazon countries and Latin America and the Caribbean. “It will be a meteorological satellite that will provide autonomy for our weather forecasts and very short-term forecasting for imminent atmospheric events, including extreme events such as droughts, floods and landslides that take lives and destroy entire cities.”

The minister said she intended to share the meteorological data generated by CBERS-5, the first Sino-Brazilian geostationary satellite, with all other interested countries, with special attention to Latin America and the Caribbean.

“CBERS-5 is today the number one priority of our ministry and the Brazilian government, and a unique opportunity for us to take a leap forward in the technological field of the space sector. This is a strategic project worth almost BRL 10 billion, to be shared equally by Brazil and China over the coming years,” concluded Luciana Santos.

About ACTO

The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental organization made up of eight Amazon countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. It works with a broad vision of South-South Cooperation in different dimensions, creating synergies between governments, multilateral organizations, cooperation agencies, organized civil society, social movements, the scientific community, productive sectors and society as a whole.

With information from INPE