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Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Environmental Initiatives Expo

Entrepreneurs and authorities from throughout the Americas will learn about successful ecological initiatives in Costa Rica when they visit the Environmental Solutions Fair, to take place here Dec. 3-5.

Antidote for Anthrax

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The development of the human antibody known as ABthrax could be the answer for attacking the lethal toxins generated by anthrax. However, its high costs and early stage in experimental development stand in the way of predicting its effectiveness and future availability.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Coffee-Growers Reject U.S. Proposal

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The National Coffee Association of Guatemala (Anacafe) rejected the U.S. proposal to define rules of origin for cafe based on soluble coffee and processed beverages, instead of based on where the coffee was grown.

'Art is part of nature'

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Costa Rican music group Editus on war, peace, spirituality and the environment.

Ecobreves – MEXICO:: Commission to Assess Environmental Accord

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation is irrelevant, said a Mexican non-governmental organization as a public process began last week to evaluate the 10 years the treaty signed by Canada, Mexico and the United States has been in force.

Ecobreves – PERU:: Autonomy Sought for Amazon Institute

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Indigenous and environmental groups, universities and officials in the eastern Peruvian region of Selva are asking Congress to restore the autonomy of the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP), which in July was made into an agency of the Ministry of Production.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Vast Marine Biodiversity Discovered

By IPS Correspondents and - -

An inventory of mollusk species in the reef of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, on the Costa Rican Caribbean coast, has allowed the site to be declared unique in the world for its great biological diversity.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: 100,000 Students in Clean-up Project

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has launched a pilot program, "Cleaning up my village, my town, my city", involving 100,000 students in 10 of Guatemala's 22 departments.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Indians to Fight Deforestation

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Indigenous communities in western Honduras will take part in an initiative to conserve natural resources, halt deforestation and reduce poverty.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Mayan Sites Protected

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Congress has declared the Guatemalan Mayan archeological sites of Yaxhá, Nakum and Naranjo protected areas. Located in the northern department of El Petén, bordering Mexico, they are frequent targets for looters and vandals.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Ex-Ambassador Visits Threatened Forest

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Former U.S. ambassador to Honduras and director of the Center for International Policy, Robert White, has called for protection of the forests in the northeast department of Olancho and the resolution of the June murder of environmentalist Carlos Reyes.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Fighting Ozone Pollution

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Sao Paulo government's environmental clean-up agency aims to reduce the proportion of olefins (volatile hydrocarbons) in gasoline from 30 to five percent in order to fight urban ozone pollution.

African Forage Invades Brazilian Pampas

By Mario Osava and - -

African lovegrass has taken the place of native forage plants in several Brazilian states, and has spread to Uruguay and Argentina. Agronomists are experimenting with using buffalo to control it.

The great green macaw. - Luiz Claudio Marigo.

A Corridor of Hope for the Great Green Macaw

By IPS Correspondents and - -

This endangered bird is the emblematic species of a nature protection effort aimed at saving crucial ecosystems in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

'It's inhuman that borders are only open to capital'

By Diego Cevallos and - -

The North American Free Trade Agreement has encouraged illegal migration, says Mexican peasant Lucas Benítez, winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, in a conversation with Tierramérica.

Transnational Oil Companies

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Thirty thousand Indians from the Ecuadorian Amazon were able to put the U.S.-based petroleum giant ChevronTexaco in court on charges of environmental destruction.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Aymaras Grow Food for Vicuñas

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Thirty indigenous ranchers in Chile's extreme north will be the first beneficiaries of a project for growing forage plants to feed vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna), a member of the South American Andes llama family.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Coffee Grown with Its Own Waste

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Coffee growers in eastern Cuba have significantly increased production with the application of fertilizer made from the waste material produced in processing the coffee for consumption.

Ecobreves – UNITED STATES: Fires Threaten Wildlife

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Experts warn that it will take months or years for condor, deer, bear and other species to recover from the destruction of their habitat that occurred in the forest fires of late October in the U.S. state of California.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Bio-Pesticides on the Rise

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The use of biological pesticides in Latin America could represent nine percent of the global total by 2008, with a value of 100 million dollars, said experts taking party in a symposium hosted by the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), in Costa Rica.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Zoo's Residents in Danger

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Some 78 species of Nicaraguan fauna at the National Zoo lack the appropriate habitat for development and reproduction, the zoo's director, Marina Sacasa, told Tierramérica.