Department of Regional Development and Environment 
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Studies on national and international watersheds are done for purposes of preparing sustainable development and environmental management programs and include preparation of development strategies and measures and multi-purpose projects. In border areas, the programs cover proposals for environmental management of natural resources, facilitation of border trade, integration and shared use of transportation infrastructure, communications and energy, and tourism development activities.
In Bolivia and Peru, working in conjunction with specialists from United Nations Environment Programme, the terms of reference were prepared for the Project on Environmental Management of the Lake Titicaca-Desaguadero River-Poopó Lake and Coipasa Salt Flat System (TPDS), along the border separating the two countries. The United Nations Environment Programme will contribute $270,000 for this first phase of the project, while the participating countries will contribute $160,000.
In Brazil, as part of the activities of the Program for Development of Priority Areas in the Amazon Valleys (PROVAM) being carried out in cooperation with the Brazilian Amazonia Development Office (SUDAM), a number of studies were conducted on the formation of a common market among the counties of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, on external and internal sources of financing and on trade across the Brazilian/Venezuelan border. A socio-economic database of the area was devised. In the state of Roraima, the activities of the Immediate Action Program were launched, which included an energy matrix and environmental impact studies and projects, lang registry, training of prospectors, development of rural communities, and hydro-geological surveying of farm areas. The Brazilian Government contributed $1,084,000 to the OAS for execution of this project.
In the Dominican Republic, as part of the National Water Resource Plan, a final diagnostic study was prepared, as was an inventory of hydraulic projects. The terms of reference of the Yaqui del Sur River Basin Management and Conservation Plan were developed. The predominant socio-economic features of the watersheds of the Artibonite and Macasia rivers along the border with Haiti were examined. This information was added to existing studies on biophysical features and factored into construction-work proposals.
In El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, technical assistance was provided to the Trinational Commission of the Integrated Development Plan for the Trifinio Border Area, a commission made up of those three countries. The assistance was to enable the Commission to continue the work being done under the Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Program (GS/OAS-Finnish Government Agreement) and to devise two options on how the program's activities might be expanded, options which the Government of Finland could then consider financing.
In Guatemala and Honduras, work began on preparation of the Integrated Development Plan of the Guatemalan-Honduran Border Area around the Gulf of Honduras. Technical units were created within each country, which were assisted by local consultants and Department specialists. A diagnostic study was prepared and a document was put together containing sustainable development strategies for the area, including: land organization and programs in forestry, agriculture, tourism, mining, fishing, social participation, sanitation and environmental management. Also formulated was a proposed Binational Sustainable Development Strategy for the Gulf of Honduras Region, which will be introduced at a joint meeting by the Vice Presidents of both countries and submitted to external sources of financing for consideration. As part of this project, an agreement was signed between the ministries in charge of highways and roads in the two countries, to build a new highway (CA13) to help integrate this region.
In Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the terms of reference for the San Juan River Management Plan were prepared, which includes a diagnostic study, environmental zoning and identification of projects and their prefeasibility studies. Joint missions consisting of OAS technicians and technicians from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) were conducted. The technical document containing the proposal is with the two governments for study. The total cost of the first stage is $721,000, which will be financed by the governments, the OAS and the United Nations Environment Programme (which will contribute $471,000).
Under the Plurinational Project on Integrated Development of Border Regions in Central America and Panama, a workshop was conducted to prepare an Investment Program involving preparation of 18 investment projects for a total of $14 million. These projects are part of the program established by the governments of the countries and the estimated total for the investment phase is $504 million.
Under the Plurinational Amazon Cooperation Project, technical assistance continued to be provided to the member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty. Under the Colombia-Ecuador Program, the Plan for Organization and Management of the San Miguel and Putumayo River Basins was prepared and included projects prepared at the prefeasibility level. In the Colombia-Peru Program, the Wild Fauna Management Project was prepared, added progress was made on preparation of the area's Development Plan, and the revision and adjustment of the binational projects prepared on a preliminary basis got under way. Under the Brazil-Peru Program, the projects on Fishing and Fish Farming, Management of the Binational Program and Iberia-Iñapari Rural Development (at the national level) were prepared at the prefeasibility level and further progress was made with preparation of the area's Development Plan. Special studies and activities were also conducted, among them the following: environmental zoning of the Colombian sector of the Brazil-Colombia Program; formulation of an environmental education study for the border areas of the Amazon region, and technical meetings between the national committees for the Colombia/Ecuador and Colombia/Peru programs. Of the $737,000 contributed for the Plurinational Project, $489,400 came from the United States Government and the rest from the OAS.
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