Brazil offers to host August summit for Amazon rainforest alliance

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows deforestation near a forest on the border between Amazonia and Cerrado in Nova Xavantina, Mato Grosso state, Brazil July 28, 2021. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil is offering to host a regional summit in early August to renew the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), bringing together countries containing parts of the Amazon rainforest along with senior officials from the U.S. and France.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said on Thursday that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva aims to consolidate the region's plans for the Amazon at the summit in the northern city of Belem on Aug. 8 and 9.