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The Integration of the Amazon Region: 14,000 km of Opportunities

August 7, 2023 by Pablo M. Garcia - Tatiana Schor Leave a Comment


The Amazon Summit (August 8 and 9) represents a remarkable historical moment by bringing together dignitaries from Amazonian countries, local communities and key stakeholders in the search for solutions to the multidimensional challenges of this vital region renowned for its biodiversity and critical role in global climate regulation.

This meeting eloquently highlights the powerful tool that is regional integration in the preservation of the Amazon (region). The focus on union and collaboration between national and local governments, indigenous communities, and multilateral organizations like the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), demonstrates a recognition of interdependence and the need for joint policies.

The newly announced IDB regional program, “Amazonia Forever,” will serve as a guiding axis to push integration in the challenging reality of the Amazon. “Amazonia Forever” unfolds as an umbrella to address different aspects of the Amazon region, placing nature and people at the center of all policies.

Within this framework, the IDB’s Regional Integration Unit of the Integration and Trade Sector and the Amazon Region Unit of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Sector are developing a strategy in the border regions, aiming to provide multisectoral solutions to local challenges. 

What are the Border Regions?

These are territorial spaces that unfold at the boundaries of countries and are characterized by unique dynamics, where in most cases, there are no physical borders. Often, around the edges, urban settlements arise—cities or third-order or smaller municipalities—that share similar issues, challenges, and opportunities. These “Border Clusters” have a unique identity bond with complementary economic, political, social, cultural, and environmental dynamics.

A wide view showing the confluences between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, where the white lines roughly delineate the tri-border. Original image edited from: https://www.amazonialatitude.com/  

Just as border towns face common issues, they also share the same set of development opportunities.

For example, the synergy of businesses, associations, and cooperatives in a common geographic territory, the facilitation of shared logistical chains, or the creation of institutional cooperation instances could facilitate the complementation of goods and services activities, contributing to better functioning productive linkages and cooperation between institutions, organizations, and governmental agencies.

Biodiversity in Question

The Amazon is a region with more than 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles) of borderlines, as shown by the geospatial information management platform Amazonia360 created by the IDB. To grasp the dimension of this territory, it’s a distance similar to that between the cities of Belem, the capital of the Brazilian state of Pará, and Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and home to the imposing Mount Everest.

These are not remote, unpopulated regions. To the contrary, the geographic areas of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Ecuador, and Suriname are home to more than 6 million people living in 214 small and medium urban centers, considering buffer zone of 100 kilometers on each side of the borders.

Zone of 100 km on each side, along the Amazon region country borders, selected by the IDB team to carry out the analysis. Source: Amazonia360 (IDB).

The same platform (Amazonia360) also shows that some of these border areas are located near high CO2 capture zones, with indispensable functions for climate regulation at the regional and global levels.

Recognizing the privilege of having diverse nature does not mean overlooking the pressures that the Amazon region suffers due to deforestation and climate change reflected in more intense periods of drought and floods, events from which no one is free from harm.

Despite their status as wildlife sanctuaries, their rich ecosystems face significant threats due to human activities such as indiscriminate logging, wildfires, and the expansion of unsustainable agricultural.

Accelerated and poorly planned urban growth, informal and illegal economic activities, water and air pollution, and inadequate waste management also contribute significantly to the problem. This, coupled with weak institutional governance and scarce coordination mechanisms, added to deficiencies in connectivity infrastructure, further hindering the economy and society’s development.

Clusters in Action

Even in the most extreme challenges, there is always an opportunity to learn, grow, and find creative solutions. In this regard, the IDB team, with the support of a group of consultants in the field, identified that border clusters could be an integration strategy that contributes to the Amazon region’s sustainable development.

amazon-tri-border
Geographic location of the strategic clusters identified by the IDB team. Source: Amazonia360 (IDB).

Regional integration is a great tool for the Amazon region borderlines: it allows coordinating efforts around shared challenges, often transcending the countries themselves, as they respond to specific realities, a unique incentive for understanding and implementing standard policies. 

An Example in the Heart of the Forest

The IDB team identified, among others, the tri-border geographic area of Brazil-Colombia-Peru to carry out part of its strategy for integrating border clusters. 

This area, located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, is characterized by the immense social and cultural wealth that unfolds around the waters of the Amazon River, with ancestral roots that dilute borderlines in everyday life. 

This is the experience of twin cities, Leticia (Colombia) and Tabatinga (Brazil). With over 115,000 inhabitants, they comprise the central axis of this vibrant cluster that shares many of the same dynamics and socioeconomic activities. Thus, promoting integration with neighboring municipalities would add to a tri-national area involving more than 300,000 people. 

A panoramic view from the Cathedral of Our Lady of La Paz, in the heart of the city of Leticia, Colombia. Source: Jenny (Adobe Stock).

This is a promising perspective for the inhabitants of this cluster, governed by different political organizations but having an integrated and shared daily life. The natural flow of goods and the mobility of people from one side to the other, virtually without obstacles, speak of regions that, without renouncing their identity, nest a feeling of “single people” based on roots, traditions, and customs that cross borders.

The high population in young age groups, the number of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises involved in vibrant commercial activities, and the strong presence of universities and research educational centers, coupled with the vigor of local communities, create a virtuous combination in terms of human resources, mobilizing for a long-term development plan. 

A technical team from the IDB exploring the facilities of a fish farming venture on the tri-border of Brazil-Colombia-Peru. Source: IDB.

This reality, tangible on the Amazonian streets, serves as a robust foundation to advance public policies that promote institutional exchange and the strengthening of the business fabric. It also propels necessary investments in basic services and intermodal infrastructure, among others. The ultimate goal will be access to markets for Amazonian goods and products with added value, as well as the development of green and sustainable businesses as engines of social and economic momentum for this valuable Amazonian region.

Although the context remains challenging, the 14,000 kilometers of borderlines provide solid arguments to maintain hope and foster a vision of the Amazon as a unique, sustainable region adapted to the integrated reality already experienced by its inhabitants.


Filed Under: Regional Integration, Trade Facilitation

Pablo M. Garcia

Pablo M. Garcia is a long-experienced development economist. He is currently Head of the Integration Unit at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Previously, he was Director of the Institute for the Integration of Latin American and the Caribbean (INTAL) at the IDB, president of BICE (Argentinean Development Bank) and president of the Latin American Association of Development Financing Institutions (ALIDE). Previously, Pablo was Lead Economist at the IDB specializing in Foreign Trade and Investments. He oversaw the IDB's regional hub on foreign trade and investment issues for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. While at the hub, he led the design and execution of several projects related to export promotion, investment attraction, and trade in services. He has authored studies on international economy, trade in services, and export and investment promotion. Pablo holds a MA in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University, a MS in Economics from Di Tella University and a BA in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires.

Tatiana Schor

Unit Chief at Amazon Region, IDB. A citizen of Brazil, Ms. Schor currently leads the IDB's Amazon Initiative. She is a Tenured Associate Professor at The Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM) in the Geography Department. Her previous roles include Executive Secretary for the Science, Technology, and Innovation Agency (SECTI) of the State of Amazonas, Coordinator of the Amazonas State Center for Conservation Units, and Adjunct Secretary of State for Rural Production Planning. Ms. Schor holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, a master’s degree in Human Geography, and a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of São Paulo.

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