BRASILIA Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday said that next week's summit of Amazon region nations will seek to draw up a common policy for the first time to protect the rainforest.
"I have high expectations for this summit. For the first time we are going to have a common policy for the Amazon, for preservation, security, borders," Lula said.
The eight countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) will meet Aug. 7-8 in the city of Belem at the mouth of the Amazon river.
The summit will focus on forest conservation and security along the borders, Lula said, adding that private businesses will be asked to help with the reforestation of 30 million hectares of degraded land.
"We are going to discuss with the business sector a policy for the reforestation of 30 million hectares of degraded land with trees that can be used by furniture industries," he said.
ACTO was created in 1978 to promote the preservation of the Amazon basin and regulate Amazonian development through cooperation. Its members are Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Mark Porter and Aurora Ellis)
