A 'Laboratory' for an Environmental Citizenry Is Born

Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru, from now until 2006, will serve as the laboratory for an experiment whose goal is to create environmental awareness among citizens.

“I fear the world that my grandchildren will inherit”

War can no longer resolve any problems and it leaves in its wake the destruction of the Earth, says Chilean author Isabel Allende. "I take comfort in knowing that the children of today have greater ecological awareness," she said in an exclusive interview with Tierramérica in the U.S. city of San Francisco, where she presented her latest book "My Invented Country".

A Bid to Save Honduran Hummingbird

A legislative bill to declare the northwestern area of Aguán Valley in Honduras a protected area is feeding hopes for the survival of the brilliantly colored emerald hummingbird, a species unique to this Central American nation.

Iguanas

Iguanas have a look that seems to hark back to a life in the very distant past of this planet. These reptiles are found primarily in the Americas, and in modern times have become a sort of cult object, and in some cases the source of concern for the very survival of certain species within the extensive family.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Logging Threatens Las Yungas Jungle

A large portion of Las Yungas jungle in northwest Argentina could disappear over the next five years if plans are approved for a company that wants to clear 1,400 hectares in order to expand its sugarcane plantation, warn environmentalists.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Youth Sustainable Development Summit

Youth experiences, actions and projects for improving the status of the environment will be presented at the First Global Summit on Youth Initiatives for Sustainable Development, to be held Aug. 26-30 in the Colombian Caribbean city of Cartagena.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Junk in the Lungs

The Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico (UAM) is studying the quantities and composition of the particulates measuring around 2.5 micrometers that circulate in the atmosphere of the Mexican capital.

Ecobreves – PERU: Expanding Debate on Water Law

Peru's President Alejandro Toledo assured that he does not intend to privatize water services and agreed to extend public debate on a legislative bill by 150 days, after farmers engaged in protests in May that shut down roads and bridges at 64 locations throughout the country.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Environmental Laws Need Enforcement

The Guatemalan Center for Legal Environmental and Social Action (CALAS) has asked President Alfonso Portillo to enforce the laws for protecting natural resources and to step up activity at the Prosecutor's Office for Crimes against the Environment.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: A Month of Coffee News

The Coffee News agency, founded in Honduras to disseminate information about production and marketing of this farm commodity, has reached the one-month mark in its effort to give local growers a boost in spite of the sluggish international coffee market.

Ecobreves – PANAMA: Bay Clean Up Requires Pollution Prevention

The plan to clean up the Bay of Panama, on the Pacific coast, will be only a half solution to the problem if the causes behind the contamination are not tackled, says Panama's environmental prosecutor, Giovanni Olmos.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: New Archeological Dig

Spanish and Nicaraguan archeologists will begin excavation in February 2004 of the Cascal de Flor de Pino, where the ancient ruins of a previously unknown civilization were found on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast.

Fear Is the Most Toxic of Gases'

Personalities from across the Americas share their visions as part of World Environment Day, celebrated annually on June 5. In an exclusive for Tierramérica, they respond to the question: What is the local or global environmental problem that worries you most?

World Environment Day 2003

World Environment Day 2003 is dedicated to a crucial element for the survival of civilization and nature alike: water. The message for this awareness-raising event is that we must do everything possible to conserve this natural resource and to improve its distribution among the world's people.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Paraná River Could Overflow

The environmental Protect Argentina Foundation warns that floods like those that brought tragedy recently to the northeastern city of Santa Fe will be more frequent in that region and will hit other cities, which must begin to take preventive measures.

Ecobreves – PERU: A Powerful Documentary

The documentary film "Choropampa: The Price of Gold" prompted the health commission of the Peruvian Congress to approve a bill this week that regulates the transport of dangerous mining materials and waste, and entrusts control to local governments.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: More Genome, Less Fertilizer

Deciphering the genetic map of the Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus bacteria, which helps sugar cane to grow and to fix nitrogen from the air, would allow Brazilian farmers to save on nitrogen-based fertilizer and reduce agro-chemical contamination in soils and rivers.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Towns Defend Olancho Forests

The residents and mayors of four municipalities in the northeastern Honduran department of Olancho have joined forces to prevent the pillaging of their forests, which have suffered unregulated and illegal logging.

Ecobreves – AMERICAS: Continent-wide Early Warning Plan

Some 80 experts from Latin America and the Caribbean, Canada and the United States are meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, this week to draw up a hemispheric stance on early warning systems for natural disasters, and will present their resolution to an international meeting in October in Germany.

THE ISRAELI PEACE CAMP IN TIMES OF TERROR AND HOPE

These are startling days for Israeli domestic politics. For the first time in history, the leader of the nationalistic right wing is talking in public about \'\'the need to put an end to the occupation\'\', stating \'\'the time has come to divide the land between us and the Palestinians\'\', writes Sarah Ozacky-Lazar, a Middle East historian and co-director of the Jewish-Arab Centre for Peace at Givat Haviva, Israel. In this article for IPS, the author writes that while most Israeli leftists doubt Sharon is serious about peace and interpret his sudden change as merely a tactic to avoid open crisis with the Bush administration, they have to support Sharon\'s moves to prevent the ultra-right from blocking the renewed peace process. The Israeli left and what remains of the peace camp now find themselves in a contradictory situation: their major rival, Sharon, is in the process of implementing their own ideas. They doubt his sincerity but cannot oppose him because he is doing exactly what they have been preaching for ages. They strongly oppose the harsh security measures taken by the Israeli army but cannot protest because the suicide bombings continue. The irony is that if and when any peace agreement is achieved, it will be credited to the right wing that has opposed it for years, while the left wing will be left out of both the history books and political power, despite its long stubborn struggle for mutual recognition and the right of the Palestinians to freedom and statehood.

DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA GRAVELY THREATENED BY AIDS

We are now halfway through the 25-year period set in 1990 for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa, writes K. Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa. In this article for IPS, Amoako writes that nothing is more critical than overcoming HIV/AIDS. The epidemic has a clear impact on the first three MDGs: poverty eradication, education, and gender equality. Families afflicted by AIDS are less able to grow food and to withstand shocks such as drought. Girls are being withdrawn from school in order to assist with essential domestic duties, including caring for the sick. The author stresses that women bear the brunt of the AIDS epidemic. They shoulder the burden of caring for people with AIDS and bringing up children orphaned by the disease. They grow most of Africa\'s food. An estimated 58 percent of those infected with HIV in this continent are women. One of the factors driving the AIDS epidemic in Africa is the unequal status of women and their vulnerability to exploitation and sexual abuse. In a vicious twist, it seems that the epidemic itself is intensifying women\'s vulnerability. Overcoming the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on women is crucial if we are to promote gender equality and empower women.