THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN LIMA LEARNT ABOUT WWF’S EFFORT TO CONSERVE THE AMAZON

• The Ministry of Environment, major cooperation agencies and companies participated in the first edition of the International Environment Fair (FIMA)

• WWF’s Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Minister for the Environment attended the opening event

Lima. All dressed in “green”, Lima was the host of the first edition of the International Environment Fair - Peru FIMA 2011, last November 24 – 26. This fair served as a forum for dialogue and learning among businesses, the State and civil society, who saw ground breaking eco-friendly technologies, and also learned from experts themselves about sustainable development initiatives that are being carried out in the country.

WWF, the world’s conservation organization, had a strong presence at the fair with the project Amazonía Viva: Conservación y valoración participativa del bosque y sus Servicios ambientales (Living Amazon: Conservation and participatory valuation of forest and its environmental services), which was shown in the stand of the Delegation of the European Union to Peru, a strategic partner for over ten years. Thanks to Roberto Troya, WWF’s Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Patricia León - Melgar, WWF Peru’s Director; Ricardo Giesecke, Minister for the Environment, and the Ambassador Hans Alldén, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Peru, got to know first hand of WWF’s conservation work and its efforts to protect the Amazon.

“WWF is working since 1961 for a living planet and we have not stopped in these five decades, because we believe on people’s potential. Each of us has the power to change things and make it consistent with economic growth, environmental sustainability and the improvement of the quality of life of populations who inhabit the coast, the Andes and the Amazon.”, said Kelly Soudre, the leader of WWF Peru's Integrated Forest Management component.

Thousands of people, especially students, who participated in the fair, were able to learn about WWF’s work in Peru. Since 1969, WWF has contributed to the creation of major protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon. It has also worked with native communities and forestry companies, training them in sustainable management of their resources, and helping with the certification of over 700 000 hectares of forest. Today, with the Amazonía Viva Project, it contributes to the conservation of over 800 000 hectares in key areas of the Amazon in Peru and Colombia.

“There is no better reward than knowing that each of our conservation actions is helping to make it possible for us to have a planet where humans can live in harmony with their environment. Thanks to this, we can believe in the future we are leaving for future generations”, concludes Soudre.

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The project Amazonía Viva is carried out with funding from the European Union and WWF Germany.

In Peru and Colombia, the Living Amazon team consists of Corpoamazonia; Derecho Ambiente y Recursos Naturales – DAR; the Amazon Institute of Scientific Research SINCHI, SNV, TRAFFIC and WWF.