Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Final Touches on Ecotourism Plan for Amazonia

After five years of preparation, the Brazilian government is putting the final touches on the plan for ecotourism in Amazonia, which will be ready in six months, environmental official Alan Milhomens told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Benefit of the Doubt for New Environment Minister

Activists say they are satisfied with the naming of Juan Elvira as the environment minister for the new government of Mexico, but that his stated intention of making the environment a central issue of public policy will be difficult.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Seeds to Be Imported for Biodiesel

In the first quarter of 2007 Honduras will import from Malaysia 1.5 million sacks of hybrid seed to plant some 7,200 hectares of African palm (Elaeis guineensis J.). The aim is to produce biodiesel fuel.

SAVE THE AMAZON, SAVE THE EARTH

Brazil today is being pulled between the need for economic growth and the need to preserve its natural resources, which is especially critical with regard to the Amazon, writes Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian theologian and writer. In this article, Boff writes that the Amazon contains the majority of the world\'s rain forests, fresh water reserves, and the richest trove of biodiversity. The ecological future of the earth and life upon it depends largely on how the Amazon is treated. When he took office in 2003, President Lula named as minister of the environment Marina da Silva, a former rubber tapper and collaborator of Chico Mendes, martyr to the preservation of the Amazon. Da Silva walked into a grim situation. In the 2000/2001 period, the area deforested was 18,165 square kilometres, increasing to 23,143 the following year. To address this situation the government approved in 2004 the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Amazon Deforestation, which affects the action of 13 ministries. The results have been positive. In 2004/2005, the rate of deforestation was reduced by 31 percent, and even better results are expected for 2006. The Lula government is generating awareness of the strategic importance of the Amazon for Brazil and for the world. This is happening in a muddle of contradictions left from a past of neglect, but the course is clear. If it can be maintained, this patrimony can be saved for humanity.

PARTNERSHIP, NOT DOMINANCE: VOICE OF ANOTHER AMERICA

It is time that US foreign policy be based on the principles upon which the US claims it was founded: democracy, equality, fairness, and the rule of law, not the rule of men, write Johan Galtung, professor of peace studies and founder and co- director of TRANSCEND: A Network for Peace and Development (www.transcend.org), and Marilyn Langlois, chair of TRANSCEND-USA. In this article, the authors write that the basic principle should be equality, We should ask ourselves whether we would want other countries to do to us what we do to them. This would rule out military occupation, unequal trade-- exchanging processed goods for raw materials-- and any form of dominance, threats, or bullying. It would include all measures that protect the four basic human needs for survival, economic well-being, freedom, and identity US policy goals for Iraq should include: acknowledging that the US role in the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, resulting in suffering and destruction; abiding by the expressed wishes of the Iraqi people to remove the US military presence; asking Iraqis at all levels of society what they want the US to do to support their own efforts to rebuild their country; engaging in equitable trade and support constructive dialogue and cooperation among Iraq and its neighbours

China Takes Over Carbon Market

The Asian giant accounts for 60 percent of the global total of carbon credits. More than 100 "clean development" projects are under way in China

Airport Divides Government and Mapuches

Indigenous groups are fighting to halt construction of a new airport in the Chilean region of Araucanía. It is one of President Bachelet's biggest infrastructure projects.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Saving the Walnut Tree

Environmental authorities are carrying out a conservation plan for the Venezuelan walnut (Juglans venezuelensis), native to the mountains that separate the capital from the Caribbean sea, a habitat that is under threat from logging, urbanization, soil degradation and changes in rainfall patterns.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Membrane Maintains Fruit Aroma

The membranes -- very thin "skins" made from different materials, generally plastic polymers -- can recover complex aromas and improve the quality of Brazil's agricultural products, say scientists.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Hydroelectric Plans Advance in the South

The Comptroller General of Chile granted the Hydro Aysén company a provisional electrical concession to begin studies for the construction of four hydroelectric dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers, in Chile's 11th region of Aysén, 2,000 km south of the capital.

Ecobreves – URUGUAY: The Internet as a Tool to Foment Energy Efficiency

A web site of Uruguay's Ministry of Industry seeks to promote energy efficiency amongst its customers.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: AN END IN SIGHT

Violence against women during conflict has become an international scandal, writes Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, November 25. In this article, the author writes that violence against women is not limited to conflict and post-conflict situations; it is a daily reality for millions of women, in all ranks of life, in every country in the world. This violence, because it is so ordinary, does not provoke the same response--either at the international, the national or the local level. To make matters worse, in many cases, women no longer trust the courts and police to help deal with this violence because their experience with legal and law enforcement institutions has shown them that the gender bias and indifference which gives rise to such violence simply runs too deep. What women have learned in almost two decades of work to end violence against women is that change is possible. It requires engaging men in transforming power relationships and working at multiple levels and across sectors to address the social and economic causes of gender violence and the links between violence, poverty, and conflict.

Lebanese Waters Still Stained Black

Four months after the oil spill caused by Israeli bombing, Lebanon continues to struggle to clean up its coastline. Thousands of marine species are in danger and the coming winter brings a new urgency to the problem.

Climate Measurements Better from Siberia

The data collected at a tall tower in a remote, virgin forest in Russia will expand knowledge about the effects of greenhouse gases worldwide.

Will Forests Adapt to a Warmer World?

Some scientists believe that a warmer planet means forests will grow more quickly. But others say forested areas will dry up or become disease ridden.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Controversy Over Registry of Pollutants

Environmental groups say they will prevent the Mexican government from making good on its intention to release local industries from having to measure eight of the greenhouse gases they emit.

Ecobreves – BOLIVIA: Protection for Isolated Peoples

At a conference Nov. 20-22 in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz, experts, indigenous communities and government officials will propose public policies to protect isolated populations in South America's tropical jungles.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Designing Eco-Friendly Heaters

Argentine researchers will present a project this month in innovations of gas heater design in order to double their efficiency and reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Growing Freshwater Pearls

In a pioneering initiative in Brazil, the University of Sao Paulo is studying the viability of in vitro cultivation of two threatened bivalve mollusk species in order to use some of them for producing freshwater pearls.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Protecting Bats Can Be Profitable

Researchers at the National University of Colombia are working to raise awareness in local communities about the importance of preserving the caves where bats (Miniopterus schreibersii) seek refuge, and that bat guano is useful as organic fertilizer.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Training for “Servants of the Environment”

In December the first 30 youths will graduate from a Honduran education project that for the past two years has been teaching children of farming families about environmentally friendly farming techniques.