Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Environmentalists Worry Over Land Intervention

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CARACAS, Jan 3 2005 (IPS) - Venezuelan environmentalists expressed their concern about a decree in the central state of Cojedes that ordered ''intervention'' of all fallow lands that could be used in agriculture, including extensive cattle ranching accompanied by private forest and water reserves, that are now home to hundreds of species. ''The definition of fallow land could hurt spaces that are important, not because of agricultural production, but rather for their water supply potential, and because they are the habitat of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects,'' Diego Díaz, president of the environmental group Vitalis, told Tierramérica.

Vitalis and similar organizations have also sounded the alarm about the development of sugarcane plantations and a sugar mill that Cojedes Governor Yonny Yánez is promoting. The governor, however, accompanied his intervention decree with another that sets up study groups and negotiation panels with the participation of the people affected.