The Amazonian countries will sign a pact for the conservation of the Amazon region at the presidential summit to be held on next Friday in the Colombian city of Leticia, according to officials.

“From this presidential summit will be issued a declaration containing the Leticia Pact for the Amazon,” Efe news quoted Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo as saying on Wednesday.

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According to him, the declaration “will contain concrete actions” to preserve the Amazon, and will include “an itinerary of activities” in which not only the Amazonian countries but other nations of the region and the international community will participate.

“The reason for this call is related to the importance of the Amazon, not only for the Amazon countries and for the region, but for the entire world,” Trujillo said.

He said the summit’s aim is to advance the coordination of actions for the conservation and preservation of the Amazon in which vast fires have been raging for weeks.

The meeting in Leticia will be attended by presidents Lenin Moreno of Ecuador, Martin Vizcarra of Peru and the host, Ivan Duque, the foreign minister added.

Bolivian President Evo Morales and Suriname Vice President Michael Ashwin Adhin have also confirmed their attendance, he said.

Last month, the US government had said that it did not approve the offer of $20 million in aid to Brazil made by the G7 member nations to fight the devastating wildfires in the Amazon rainforest.

French President Emmanuel Macron had announced that G7 countries will earmark $20 million to help fight the massive fires raging across Amazonia.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump praised Bolsonaro’s handling of the fire crisis.

Trujillo also said that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will not attend the meeting as he has to undergo surgery on Sunday, but he will participate via video conference and send a delegation headed by Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo.

Colombian Environment Minister Ricardo Lozano said conservation and protection of natural resources is a priority of their government.

The fires in the Brazilian Amazon, which accounts for more than half of the world’s largest rainforest, have surged in number by 83 per cent this year, according to government data.

Amazon rainforest in Brazil had experienced a record amount of fires this year on last Thursday— more than 74,000 outbreaks so far — which was an 84 per cent increase from the same period in 2018.

Over the past week, the number of minors requiring treatment for respiratory ailments tripled to 380 cases, according to the city authorities.