Presidents and ministers from seven Amazon countries met in Colombia on Friday (Sep 6) to agree on measures to protect the world’s biggest rainforest, under threat from wildfires and rampant deforestation. The summit took place in the wake of an international outcry over months of raging fires that have devastated swaths of the Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia. The gathering aimed “to foster a space for regional dialogue to advance the protection and sustainable use of this region, which is essential for the survival of the planet,” Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said. Duque inaugurated the meeting in a “maloka” – an indigenous hut – surrounded by members of the Tikuna tribe with headdresses of coloured feathers in southern Colombia’s Amazon city of Leticia. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, widely criticised over policies that favour deforestation and a delayed reaction to the wildfires, did not travel to Leticia, citing doctors’ orders. However, speaking by videoconference, he urged other leaders to resist calls, spearheaded by French President Emmanuel Macron, to internationalise protection of the Amazon. “We must take a strong position of defence of sovereignty so that each country can develop the best policy for the Amazon region, and not leave it in the hands of other countries,” said Bolsonaro, who is due to undergo surgery Sunday. PROTECTION PACT Seated at a long wooden table in the shade of tall trees, the representatives of the seven nations signed the “Leticia Pact for the Amazon” that Duque said would provide greater protection for the rainforest, as existing treaties had “fallen short.”