Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Eco-Promoters for Polluted River

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BUENOS AIRES, Apr 27 2009 (IPS) - Argentina's Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development signed an agreement with the National University of La Matanza to train community environment promoters for the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin, the country's most polluted, located south of Buenos Aires. “We are calling for 250 young people, between ages 18 and 25, residents of the watershed's towns, and who will receive a stipend for training period,” Gabriela Ferreira, of the secretariat's environmental education unit, told Tierramérica.

Once they receive training from university experts, the promoters will serve as the link between the community and the Basin Authority, created two years ago to clean up the Riachuelo, and which involves national, provincial and community authorities.