Convening for conservation.

• Position: Organization of American States Committee on Environment meeting - OAS

THE OAS COMMITTEE on the Environment met in Washington, D.C. in late July to consider its agenda for 1993-94 in the context of an inter-American program of action which closely links the solution of environmental problems in the Hemisphere to the solution of problems of development.

The only multilateral treaty currently available to the region (and the oldest legal instrument on the subject) is the Convention for the Protection of Flora, Fauna and Natural Scenic Beauty of the American Countries, which dates back to 1940. This convention reaffirms the importance attached to environmental issues at the time of the Pan American Union, almost a decade before the establishment of the OAS.

The Committee's Chairman, Ambassador Ruben Melgarejo of Paraguay, told delegates from 30 OAS member states "we should take advantage of the opportunities offered by the OAS as a forum for a rational and constructive dialogue, one without recrimination and geared toward formulation of a specific strategy for our Hemisphere . . . integrating the problems of conservation and protection with those related to extreme poverty and environmental degradation."

Melgarejo recalled that the Committee was first installed in...