19 March 2002:
Equator Initiative EUROPEAN LAUNCH and Symposium, London, UK

Charles McNeill, UNDP Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Reduction Advisor, addresses a capacity crowd in the Egyptian Gallery of the British Museum.

On March 19, 2002 the Equator Initiative held an evening lecture and reception at the British Museum in London, United Kingdom to launch the initiative in Europe. The event was attended by over 200 representative of London-based international and national organizations and NGOs and opened with a presentation by Mr. Eduardo Martins, former head of IBAMA (The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) on sustainable development in the Amazon region. Then Colin McEwan, Curator of the Latin American Collections at the British Museum, gave an introduction to "Unknown Amazon: Culture and Nature in Ancient Brazil" followed by a private tour of this remarkable exhibition. This was followed by a reception in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery with brief presentations by agencies sponsoring the Equator Initiative and featuring Brazilian food, drinks and music. The evening was supported by BrasilConnects, an Equator Initiative partner, and Banco Santos.