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UNESCO and LVMH share first results of the Amazon Project
Opened by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay and by Antoine Arnault, representing the LVMH group, the session presented the project “Improving the resilience and halting biodiversity loss of the greater Amazon Basin”.
It is an effective partnership with the private sector, and supports 8 sites in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, covering 30 million hectares and housing 1.3 million people sharing the same challenges.
Arnault highlighted the "very disturbing" situation in which the Amazon biome finds itself but said there is no fatality:
We can act against the loss of biodiversity
He highlighted first results of the project conducted in partnership with UNESCO in the Amazon Basin, currently implemented in 8 UNESCO biosphere reserves, with an aim to end the degradation of forest ecosystems, conserve biodiversity and support alternative livelihoods for local communities and Indigenous Peoples.
UNESCO’s biosphere reserves, where 287 million people live, are places where we combine science, territorial protection and sustainable and remunerative activities for the population
The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, emphasized the urgence for protection of biodiversity in Amazonia, “an extraordinary haven of biodiversity which shelters a quarter of terrestrial species and an area of exceptional human mosaic, who have the knowledge and know-how to be the guardians of biodiversity”.
Regenerating ecosystems and developing sustainable economy
The project is being implemented with the support of LVMH since 2021 and has already supported 42 initiatives aimed at regenerating ecosystems and developing sustainable employment opportunities for local communities, combining scientific knowledge with local and indigenous knowledge to reduce negative impacts on biodiversity and improve resilience to climate change.
Carola Vaca, coordinator of the UNESCO x LVMH Amazon Biosphere Reserves Project in Bolivia, highlighted the importance of the project in the daily lives of communities that live in biosphere reserves. "The Amazon Project brought us light along the way."
The Amazon Biosphere Reserves Project supports place-based initiatives to promote sustainable production and resource management, improve territorial governance, and support added value of socio-biodiversity products.
Indigenous Peoples and local communities need alternatives to living in the forest, they need tools to develop a sustainable economy. Now (with the project) they have more perspectives: they can undertake, become empowered and have a more dignified life
Access the panel discussion
The other speakers - Alain Karsenty, researcher at French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), Hélène Valade, LVMH Environmental Development Director, Oskar Metsavaht, artist, fashion designer and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainability, and Mauro Colagreco, chef and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity - talked about their relationship with environmental protection and sustainable economy in their respective sectors of activity and carried a message of hope:
If we stop deforestation, the regeneration of nature and its biodiversity can be rapid
Launch of the Biodiversity Portal
The session, which included many testimonials, concluded with the launch of the Biodiversity portal, funded by Italy through the UNESCO Earth Network project.
With this interdisciplinary and intersectoral database and web platform, it is possible to:
- visualize UNESCO's contribution to the advancement of international objectives relating to biodiversity and climate change, particularly the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the 2030 Agenda;
- share UNESCO’s biodiversity conservation, restoration and sustainable ecosystem management solutions;
- produce and publish data and quality indicators related to the unique network of UNESCO designated sites and its programmes for science, education and culture.
Watch the demo of the Portal to see its full potential.
Amazonium: an immersive art installation
As part of the 42nd session of the General Conference, the artistic work Amazonium makes the scientists' message more audible.
Amazonium is an immersive art installation that showcases the power of protecting areas. The artwork moves entirely based on the data of deforestation and reforestation in the Amazon.
The work is an interactive sculpture of rainforest-shaped fabrics driven by data from the Amazon Basin that is collected over the years. The forest-themed fabrics move up and down, embracing you as if you were inside the jungle, then falling away to let you experience the emptiness of deforestation.
They then slowly rise again, visualizing the data from a UNESCO-designated protected area that is supported by LVMH.
Amazonium is an artwork by ecological artist Thijs Biersteker in collaboration with scientist Paulo Eduardo Massoca from Indiana University Bloomington, under the guidance of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO and with the support of LVMH.
