Bogota, Oct. 20 (EFE). – Colombia will host on the 23rd and 24th of this month a meeting of countries seeking to reach an agreement to protect river dolphins and strengthen cooperation mechanisms and preserve their habitats, a framework in which an “important announcement” will be made made, as the Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development reported this Friday.
The governments of Colombia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru and Venezuela will participate in this initiative, which is supported by organizations such as WWF Colombia, the Omacha Foundation, the World Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as well as the Ramsar Convention, the International Whaling Commission and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization.
These actors will “advance a global call for immediate and long-term actions that strengthen regional and national processes to address the threats that place these species, the ecosystems and the communities that live in the surrounding areas at critical risk “explained Ximena Barrera, Director of Government Relations and International Affairs at WWF Colombia.
In addition, with the support of conventions and organizations, the Amazon countries participating in the event will reaffirm their commitment to the conservation of this emblematic Amazon species.
The gray dolphin from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil; The pink of the Amazon and the Orinoquia and the Bolivian bufeo are the river dolphin species of South America.
Along with the Asian dolphins in China, such as the finless porpoise in India and Pakistan; The best conservation and protection practices and tools apply to the Ganges dolphin in Cambodia and Burma and the Irrawadi dolphin.
The presence of dolphins is an indicator of the good health of rivers in major hydrographic basins and wetlands such as the Yangtze, Mekong, Indus, Ganges, Amazon and Orinoco rivers, which are also the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people around the world. , which makes its protection essential.
All river dolphin species in the world are classified as “vulnerable” or “critically endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Endangered Species. EFE
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