VZCZCXRO1223
RR RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM
RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBR #1265/01 3001327
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271327Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5289
INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0009
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8318
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0051
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001265 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID KGHG BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: MEETING OF BILATERAL PROTECTED AREAS WORKING GROUP 
SETS STAGE FOR COOPERATION 
 
REF:  BRASILIA 1153 
 
BRASILIA 00001265  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
(U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  The first meeting of the U.S.-Brazil Protected 
Areas Working Group on September 10 highlighted existing areas of 
cooperation and identified possibilities for future activities. 
These new possibilities include assistance with preparing economic 
studies on concessions, developing methods to attract more visitors, 
and training of personnel.  Also, the meeting obtained the blessing 
- and backing - of the Ministry of External Relations (MRE) for the 
ongoing and planned cooperative work in the field of protected 
areas.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On September 10, 2009, the first meeting of the Protected 
Areas Working Group (PAWG) created under the Common Agenda for the 
Environment (CAE) took place via videoconference facilities in 
Washington and Brasilia.  The USG delegation was led by Lawrence 
Sperling, Acting Director of State Department's Office of Policy 
Coordination and Initiatives (OES/PCI).  Carlos Henrique Moscardo de 
Souza, Deputy Chief of the Division for the Environment and Special 
Themes (DEMA) of the Ministry of External Relations (MRE) led the 
Government of Brazil's (GOB) delegation.  Sperling traced the 
history of the PAWG back to the 1996 U.S.-Brazil Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) that created the CAE.  Moscardo pointed to the 
helpful role played by working groups to address important subject 
areas under the CAE, specifically water resources (REFTEL) and now 
protected areas. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The USG agencies highlighted their activities, interests 
and priorities with respect to Brazil as follows: 
 
- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) described 
its ongoing projects in Brazil through the U.S. Forest Service 
(USFS) regarding concessions on public lands and public use.  USAID 
expected to continue working in protected areas, especially with 
respect to sustainable landscapes, biodiversity and climate change. 
 
- The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has had a relationship with 
Brazilian counterparts, dating back to the 1990's, such as with fire 
management and control.  Since November 2008, there had been a 
series of exchanges and visits between USFS officials and those from 
the Institute Chico Mendes for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), 
which manages most national public lands.  These efforts have 
focused on a variety of topics such as recreation, special uses, 
establishing and monitoring concessions and permits, wilderness 
conservation and pubic use planning.  At the time of the September 
meeting, there was another USFS team in Brazil to explore possible 
areas of cooperation.  In particular, this team was looking at 
issues of permits and multi-use, including recreational use. 
 
- The National Park Service (NPS) indicated it wanted to revive a 
sister park relationship between the Everglades National Park and 
the Pantanal National Park in Brazil, both of which are World 
Heritage sites.  There are already plans for a Brazilian official 
from the Pantanal National Park to spend six weeks in the United 
States.  This sister park relationship will focus on research and 
science.  In addition, the NPS was considering a request for 
cooperation from the State of Sao Paulo to help in developing a 
trail similar to the Appalachian Trail in the United States. 
Moreover, the NPS representatives offered to share their experiences 
with ecosystem-wide management, which involved coordinating with 
other USG agencies, states, municipalities and the private sector 
that managed neighboring terrain to a national park. 
 
- The U.S. Department of State (State) described how it could help 
support cooperation through its voluntary visitors programs that 
could be used to organize productive visits of Brazilian officials 
who are in the United States. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Brazilian agencies' set forth their key activities, 
interests and priorities with respect to cooperation with the USG as 
follows: 
 
- The Institute Chico Mendes for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) 
is only two years old, but already has tremendous responsibilities. 
ICMBio manages 304 protected areas consisting of about 100 million 
hectares.  These protected areas receive about three million 
visitors a year, and the GOB wants to greatly increase this number. 
The GOB has identified 65 protected areas as priorities for 
attracting more visitors.  ICMBio identified four lines of action or 
themes for cooperation with USG counterparts: 
 
(1) Increasing quantity and quality of visits to protected areas in 
Amazonia, the Cerrado (the central-west savannah region), and the 
Atlantic Forest.  This would include cooperation on economic 
 
BRASILIA 00001265  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
feasibility studies. 
 
(2) Providing technical manuals for protected area staff on 
visitation, such as visitor guides and how to design a trail. 
 
(3) Sharing technology for protected areas. 
 
(4) Building capacity among ICMBio's staff for both enforcement and 
serving as park rangers.  ICMBio has about 700-800 people in 
enforcement, though there is not a specific park ranger position. 
Park rangers are important for greeting visitors and offering advice 
at visitor centers.  This effort would include training for ICMBio 
specialists in public use planning and its specialists in monitoring 
concessions, as well as providing technical assistance in all areas 
related to public use planning 
 
In addition, ICMBio indicated it would like to learn from the USG 
about how to better utilize the internet and new media to attract 
visitors. 
 
- The Ministry of the Environment's (MMA) Secretariat for 
Biodiversity and Forests (SBF) expressed an interest in cooperating 
with the USG more in the area of biodiversity conservation.  SBF 
sees developing wildlife corridors as a priority, which would mean 
coordinating efforts across national, state and even private lands. 
Also, SBF has responsibility for public policy development and is 
interested in the area of economic feasibility studies.  Increasing 
public awareness for protected areas was a priority. 
 
NEXT STEPS 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The USFS and NPS representatives responded positively to 
the proposals for possible cooperation by the GOB.  They both 
indicated that they had experience in the four lines of action 
described by ICMBio, as well as with using the internet and new 
media, and they could look at possible cooperation in these areas. 
USAID indicated it could look into the possibility of supporting 
USFS and/or NPS in cooperation in these areas. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The MMA representatives said that they would like to see a 
bilateral instrument of some sort to formalize the work of the PAWG. 
 This could include such steps as identifying focal points, 
developing a plan of action, and laying out terms of reference. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The MRE and State Department agreed to prepare minutes 
from this first meeting of the PAWG.  These minutes would then be 
presented at the next session of the CAE, which may take place later 
in 2009 or early 2010.  The two delegations will follow up through 
agency-to-agency channels on the ideas and proposals raised during 
this first PAWG meeting. 
 
PARTICIPANTS 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The USG participants were: 
 
- Lawrence Sperling, Director (Acting), OES/PCI, State Department 
- Cathy Karr-Colque, Ph.D., Senior Conservation Officer, Office of 
Ecology and Natural Resource Conservation (OES/ENRC), State 
Department 
- Anne Dix, Ph.D., Regional Environment Team Leader, Latin and 
Caribbean (LAC) Bureau, USAID 
- Peter Keller, Regional Environmental Advisor, Latin and Caribbean 
(LAC) Bureau, USAID 
- Darren Manning, Desk Officer for Brazil and Ecuador, Latin and 
Caribbean (LAC) Bureau, USAID 
- Stephen Morris, Chief, Office of Int'l Activities, NPS 
- Jonathan Putnam, Western Hemisphere Affairs Officer, Office of 
International Affairs, NPS 
- Michelle Zweede, Brazil Program Officer, Office of International 
Programs, USFS 
- Richard Driscoll, Environment, Science and Technology, and Health 
Counselor, U.S. Embassy Brasilia 
- Eric Stoner, Ph.D., Senior Environment Advisor, USAID, Embassy 
Brasilia 
- Mark Mitchell, USAID, Embassy Brasilia 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The Brazilian participants were: 
- Carlos Henrique Moscardo de Souza, Deputy Chief, DEMA, MRE 
- Julio Cesar Baena, International Affairs Advisor for Cooperation 
Matters, International Affairs Office (ASIN), MMA 
- Julio Gonchorosky, General Coordinator for Visiting & Business, 
ICMBio 
- Ricardo Araujo, Deputy General Coordinator for Visiting & 
Business, ICMBio 
- Juliana Von Sperling, Advisor to the President, ICMBio 
- Fabio Franga Silva Araujo, Director, Department of Protected 
Areas, SBF, MMA 
 
BRASILIA 00001265  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) COMMENT.  The first meeting of the PAWG served to inform 
the interested parties on both sides of the variety of ongoing and 
projected cooperative activities.  Further, it helped to lay out a 
path forward for increasing bilateral cooperation in the important 
field of protected areas.  One substantial benefit from this meeting 
of the working group is that it served to obtain the critical 
blessing of the MRE for continued cooperative work with protected 
areas.  END COMMENT. 
 
KUBISKE