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Organic Cooperative Farm Proves that Agriculture Can Prosper in Cuba

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Continuous upgrading and a “vocation” for farming are two keys to the success of a cooperative that could serve as a model for boosting agriculture in Cuba.
Children at the MST’s Frei Henri des Roziers Camp in Pará, Brazil - Fabíola Ortiz/IPS

Pará, Where Land is Power

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The landless peasant farmers occupying large landholdings in Pará, the Brazilian state where the land conflict is most violent, face threats ranging from intimidation by armed private guards to the spraying of toxic agrochemicals over their homes and crops.
Nanti women and children, members of an indigenous community in initial contact with Western culture in the Peruvian region of Madre de Dios. - INDEPA

PERU: Stepping Up Protection for Indigenous Groups in Voluntary Isolation

By Milagros Salazar and - -
In the dense Amazon rainforest of Peru, there are five reserves inhabited by indigenous groups who have chosen to remain totally or partially isolated from the rest of society. But these areas are not officially demarcated as indigenous lands, and only one is protected with a control post.
Artisanal miner panning for gold in Choluteca, Honduras. - Thelma Mejía/IPS

HONDURAS: Activists Protest Lack of Transparency in Extractive Industry Transparency Process

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran government’s announcement of its plans to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has raised expectations as well as doubts, particularly due to the speed with which it aims to complete a process that has taken several years in other countries of the region.
Luis Aillapán and his wife Catalina Marileo faced criminal charges in 2002 for defending their land. - Marianela Jarroud/IPS

Indigenous Chileans Continue to Oppose Pinochet-Era Highway Project

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Coastal Highway is meant to connect one end of Chile’s long, narrow territory to the other, running north to south as close to the Pacific Ocean as possible.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Environmental Delays Raise Electricity Costs, Says Gov’t

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Chilean government claims that delays in the installation of power lines due to legal proceedings and obstacles to the issuing of environmental permits will keep electricity prices high until at least 2016.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Livestock Raising Adapted to Climate Change

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A change in forage crops and the search for new sources of water are among the climate change adaptation measures implemented as part of an initiative undertaken by eight cattle farming cooperatives in Camagüey, 534 km from the Cuban capital.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: More Research Needed on Climate Change Impacts on Biodiversity

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Only six percent of research on climate change and biodiversity conducted worldwide since 1990 addresses the impacts of these changes on biodiversity in Brazil, according to a literature review carried out by the Boticário Group Foundation.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: First Eco-Municipality

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Rómulo Gallegos, a municipality in the southwestern plains of Venezuela where cattle ranching is an economic mainstay, has become the first of the country’s 333 municipalities to adopt legislation on ecologically oriented land management.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: CO2 Emissions from Amazon Construction Timber Calculated

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Every cubic meter of wood extracted from the Amazon and prepared for use in construction releases between 6.5 and 24.9 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), from the time the trees are cut down until their final transportation to the market in the former of boards, panels and other timber products.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA : Insufficient Protection Against Chemical and Nuclear Accidents

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental organizations are carefully monitoring the consequences of a toxic cloud that spread over downtown Buenos Aires on Dec. 6, and have warned of a lack of preparation to deal with a major chemical disaster.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Environmentalists Will Manage Protected Areas

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Beginning in 2013, seven protected areas in Honduras will be managed by seven environmental organizations, who will be officially responsible for their protection.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Resources Demanded to Confront Climate Change

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental organizations are calling for an adequate budget for the mitigation of climate change and adaptation to its impacts.
Environmental monitors inspecting an old oil well. - Courtesy of Amazon Indigenous Peoples United in Defense of their Territories

Peruvian Indigenous Communities Take Charge of Environmental Monitoring

By Milagros Salazar and - -
They work with the precision of technicians and the enthusiasm of volunteers. They are indigenous inspectors documenting the damages caused by oil industry activity in three river basins in the Peruvian Amazon region.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Researchers Preserve Genes of Threatened Amazon Monkeys

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Researchers at the Federal University of Pará in Brazil are collecting and storing genetic material from monkeys in the genus Saimiri, commonly known as squirrel monkeys, to prevent the extinction of a sub-species endemic to the Amazon rainforest.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: In Search of Greater Transparency in the Extractive Industries

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The World Bank will be advising Honduras on the requirements to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

Ecobreves – CHILE: Approval of Thermoelectric Plant Sparks Protest

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental organizations in Chile have expressed outrage over the ministerial approval granted for the construction of the Punta Alcalde thermoelectric power plant in the municipality of Huasco, 645 km north of Santiago.
The glaciers of the Andes Mountains are threatened by global warming. - Julieta Sokolowicz/IPS

Chile Follows in South Africa’s Footsteps for Climate Change Mitigation

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Chilean government has decided to adopt a model developed by South Africa to explore pathways to a low-carbon economy.
One of the small dams near the Dos Cochos River with water from a recent rainfall. - Mario Osava/IPS

Brazilian Communities Revitalize the São Francisco River Through Its Tributaries

By Mario Osava and - -
Communities along the banks of a tributary of the São Francisco adopt innovative measures to adapt to the diversion of the famous river’s course.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Municipalities Confront Climate Change

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Some 45 municipalities in the so-called dry corridor of Honduras have begun work on a project to promote reforestation, food security and climate change resilience in order to improve living conditions for their communities.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA : Stepping Up Resistance to Mega Mining

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Residents of the southern province of Chubut, in the Patagonia region of Argentina, are fighting a proposed legal reform that would allow large-scale open-pit mining, involving the use of toxic substances, in this area.
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