Celebrating Five Years of the Science Panel for the Amazon
On August 13, 2025, the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA) community gathered virtually to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The SPA was established in September 2019, inspired by the Leticia Pact, and officially launched on July 23, 2020. Over these five years, the SPA has become a key scientific reference on Amazon issues, and it continues advancing toward becoming a global authority that provides policy-relevant science and knowledge to support a sustainable and equitable future for the region.
This virtual gathering was a moment to honor SPA’s collective achievements, reflect on challenges and milestones, and strengthen the bonds that unite the Panel. Renowned science journalist Andrew Revkin, a long-time ally of the Panel, served as master of ceremonies and guided participants through contributions from people who have been essential to SPA’s creation and growth.
Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
To open the event, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, President of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and SPA Convener, highlighted the Panel’s major accomplishments across its history and underscored its special relevance in today’s political context, where science is more vital than ever for informed policymaking. He expressed deep appreciation for the Panel’s leadership and members for their sustained efforts in challenging times. He also noted how SPA’s work has inspired the development of two additional Science Panels in the Congo Basin and Borneo.
Dr. Carlos Nobre, Science Panel for the Amazon Co-Chair
The event then featured interventions by SPA Co-Chairs Carlos Nobre and Marielos Peña-Claros. Nobre revisited SPA’s five-year journey and milestones, including the 2021 Amazon Assessment Report and key publications such as the “Arcs of Restoration” Policy Brief, which informed the BNDES Arc of Restoration Program, launched at COP28. He reflected on SPA’s engagement with many sectors in the region, from strategic partners such as the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) to Indigenous organizations, national and subnational entities, and the academic and finance sectors. He also emphasized SPA’s commitment to working hand in hand with Indigenous and local community scientists. Nobre closed his intervention with a strong call to continue working not only for the Amazon, but for all tropical forests across the world.
Marielos Peña-Claros underlined the importance of the collaborative work built within the Panel. She stressed that the Panel’s greatest achievement is its collective power and the human connections forged among researchers, scientists, and experts across disciplines and sectors. She also emphasized another key achievement: the SPA has shown that science truly matters. She reminded participants of the crucial role the SPA and its members play in securing a sustainable future. Interdisciplinary work, including exchanges across different knowledge systems, is and will remain essential to generating actionable contributions and recommendations for Amazon conservation.
After the Co-Chairs’ remarks, Andrea Encalada, former SPA Co-Chair and member of the Science Steering Committee, thanked all who helped shape the Panel and have invested significant efforts at every step. She noted that the Panel has served as an incubator for many projects, initiatives, and research efforts across countries, and she highlighted the SPA’s contributions to and relationship with the Amazon Waters Alliance.
Gregorio Mirabal, SPA Strategic Committee and SPA Lead Author
Gregorio Díaz Mirabal, member of the SPA Strategic Committee and SPA Lead Author, welcomed that we now speak of Indigenous scientists. He reminded everyone that we celebrate this anniversary as the Amazon nears a tipping point, a concern shared both by the Panel and Indigenous Peoples. He hailed the upcoming 2025 Second Amazon Assessment Report (AR2025), to be launched at COP30, as a groundbreaking contribution to humanity for the way it weaves together Western science with Indigenous and Local knowledge through its focus on multiple dimensions of connectivity, breaking down barriers in how knowledge is produced and shared today.
Pedro Neves de Castro, member of the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), brought the perspective of Amazonian youth. Founded in September 2024, the YAC integrates the voices, expertise, and energy of young scientists and leaders into the SPA’s conservation and sustainable development work. Neves de Castro shared the YAC’s mission and objectives, along with its first-year progress in three areas: knowledge sharing, science communication, and representation and networking. He delivered a powerful message about the essential role of youth. Youth are central to maintaining and renewing the many forms of Amazonian knowledge. Creating conditions for young people to remain within knowledge structures, whether in academia, communities, or territories, must be a priority. Sustainable development requires the diverse politics and leadership of Amazonian youth. This is the YAC’s key message on the road to COP30.
With contributions from all key speakers, representing the committees that give life to the SPA, the session moved into a dialogue during which participants shared experiences and reflections on the SPA’s first five years and the path ahead. To close the session, Emma Torres, SPA Strategic Coordinator, thanked all Panel members for their immense contributions. She highlighted that one of SPA’s greatest achievements is the collective work that has been built, which has also inspired the creation of other panels. She sees a future with stronger collaboration among the three panels so they can jointly contribute to new models of sustainable development. She emphasized that much remains to be done for the world’s tropical forests and stressed the essential role of Indigenous and Local knowledge.
Torres thanked the SPA’s leadership, the Strategic Committee, the Science Steering Committee, the Youth Advisory Committee, and the SPA Secretariat. She shared an encouraging message about SPA’s future contributions to the conservation and sustainable development of the Amazon and the planet. She also expressed gratitude to SPA’s donors for their generous support, including the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the World Bank, with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
To close the event, Isabella Leite, SPA Senior Program Manager, invited all attendees to a symbolic toast to celebrate this important milestone. With smiles and warm wishes, the community raised a glass to the SPA, to the next five years, and to The Amazon We Want.
This virtual celebration offered a special space for Panel members, who volunteer their knowledge to drive real change in the Amazon region. Celebrating achievements and reflecting on the SPA’s collective future and what we want for the Amazon is foundational for the work ahead. The SPA will continue to grow, strengthening its most significant attribute: the diversity of voices and perspectives it brings together. It will remain a true space for dialogue among different knowledge systems, and for science in the service of a just and sustainable future, with the conviction that within this diversity lie the solutions to the region’s challenges.
We thank everyone who has been part of the Panel’s story in one way or another.
To learn more about this journey, watch our commemorative video marking SPA’s fifth anniversary: https://youtu.be/wwuIa0iluj0?feature=shared
