1. Acknowledging the historic debt and obligation on the part of the international community, caused by actions which led to the extermination of the Tupi-Guarany native people who lived in harmony with nature upon the shore of Guanabara Bay, and the destruction of whales which used to swim in its waters;

2. Aware of the uncontrolled exploitation of Pau-Brasil from its shores and islands, the deforestation of its shores and the increasing sedimentation of its peripheral ecosystems;

3. Considering the present condition of poverty of the people living along its margins and the environmental degradation -- both caused by the same mindless development model imposed upon developing countries -- which the peoples of the earth, represented by those here in the Global Forum, desire to change; and

4. Having as the central purpose of the Rio Conference of 1992 - the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the Global Forum - to make commitments among all here to change collectively the world community's environmental thinking to create life which is globally sustainable:

5. We, the undersigned, resolve that Guanabara Bay and its surrounding environments be declared as Humankind's Heritage.