Joint Declaration Signed to Undertake Amazon Waters Initiative

This week, a historic declaration to undertake the Amazon Waters Initiative was signed by representatives of more than a dozen institutions at the Amazon Waters International Conference in Lima, Peru. This declaration for basin-wide conservation planning will be supported by the scientific findings and data resulting from the SNAPP Amazon Waters Working Group.

Constructing a management plan for the largest freshwater river system in the world is no small task. The Basin runs through eight countries in South America and faces threats of infrastructure development, resource extraction, fragmented small-scale management plans, and climate change.

By synthesizing water, wetland and fisheries data at an unprecedented spatial scale, the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) Amazon Waters Working Group has provided the evidence necessary to drive this international agreement and made the creation of a basin-wide management plan possible. Now that the science and data foundation has been laid, a SNAPP founding partner - the Wildlife Conservation Society – has launched the Amazon Waters Initiative and is driving the policy discussion and inspiring action on the ground.

“Our work is diverse but connected, like the waters of the Amazon, and we must maintain the integrity of this vast, dynamic, and interconnected freshwater system which in turn sustains wildlife and human wellbeing. The importance of the Amazon can’t be overstated.”
 

       – Cristián Samper, WCS President and CEO

Learn more about the SNAPP Amazon Waters Working Group

Description of scientific findings: Amazon Waters Initiative

Full declaration in English and Spanish

Smithsonian Story: New Agreement Will Help Protect the Amazon Basin