GEO Brasil - UNEP

presentation
tion
of the president of IBAMA
In 1997 IBAMA - The Brazilian Institute of the
Environment and Renewable Natural Resources - was
evaluated and given credentials by PNUMA as a Brazilian
technical-scientific institution with a large network of human
resources in Research and Environmental Development in
the country and enormous territorial and interinstitutional
connectivity with federal, state and municipal government
agencies, universities and civil society organisations. With
these credentials, IBAMA became one of the international
Collaboration Centres of the GEO programme. Since this
time, we have been organising our databases and investing
in new technology and refining methodologies in Strategic
Information Management.
This publication represents IBAMA’s great efforts in data
collection, systemisation and environmental analysis. It
also represents multisector and interdisciplinary efforts. The
material here was developed through an intense and
voluminous process of institutional links aiming at broad
and consistent participation of the involved socio-politicalcultural-environmental
participants in the Brazilian nation.
This also includes specialists from the academic community
with in-depth experience with each of the themes and
chapters.
IBAMA, in carrying out its institutional mandate of offering
support to the forming of political policies for sustainable
development, is extremely proud and honoured to present
the first GEO BRAZIL. This publication represents
regimented principles in developing an Information System
for the management of fauna, fish and forest resources as
well as carrying out an evaluation of the environmental
impacts on the national territory. GEO BRAZIL is edited
and published by IBAMA Editions.
IBAMA is making GEO BRAZIL-1 available to Brazilian
society and to the international community at
Johannesburg-2002. Directors, co-ordinators, managers,
centre chiefs and researchers all feel extremely grateful for
the relationships of mutual trust that have developed over
the past months. We are also extremely pleased with the
continuity in the process of integration of partner
institutions. We are certain that there will be many more in
the near future and that the continual permanent process
of interinstitutional co-operation has only just begun.
The innovative process of change in the institutional
paradigm co-ordinated by IBAMA allowed for an extremely
rich exchange of experiences and a democratic sharing of
ecological data and information. This resulted in the
consolidation of institutional partners in Technical Cooperation
Agreements. It also resulted in the development
and spread of methodology for “Integrated Environmental
Evaluation”. This has become one of the major national
efforts for the production of Environmental Information.
Rômulo José Fernandes Barreto Mello
President of IBAMA