South American summit seeks roadmap to save Amazon

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and fellow South American leaders face pressure to set out bold solutions to save the damaged Amazon as they open a summit Tuesday on the world's biggest rainforest. Brazilian officials have vowed to seek an ambitious roadmap to stop deforestation at the two-day meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon river. It is the first summit in 14 years for the eight-nation group, set up in 1995 by the South American countries that share the Amazon basin: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The summit "should deliver concrete results if the region is serious about becoming a leader in climate action," said US-based activist group Avaaz. Indigenous groups -- whose protected reservations are crucial buffers against the destruction of the world's forests, according to experts -- urged South American leaders to take bold actions.