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Ecobreves – PANAMA: Saving the Harpy Eagle

The Audubon Society has launched an educational campaign aimed at protecting Panama's national bird, the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja).

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Plague Attacks City's Trees

By IPS Correspondents and - -

An unknown pest is killing the casuarina trees (Casuarina equisetifolia), also known as Australian pines, that have long beautified the streets and avenues of the Guatemalan capital.

Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR: Denouncing Contamination

By IPS Correspondents and - -

An environmental organization will present the Central American Water Tribunal with three charges of contamination against the government and several companies of El Salvador.

Water Resources Out of Control

By Gustavo González and - -

The wasteful practices, shortages and pollution affecting water in Latin America are the result of inadequate and often chaotic government regulation of water resources, say experts. Appropriate management requires stability, solid institutions and political will.

Rio+10 in a State of Emergency

By Haider Rizvi and - -

The United Nations and the South African government are leading a final attempt to resuscitate the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which gets underway in Johannesburg in less than a month.

Good-Bye Garbage Dumps

By Mario Osava and - -

The clean-up of several unregulated garbage dumps in the industrial Brazilian municipality of Sao Bernardo do Campo has served to raise the environmental awareness of the area's 700,000 residents.

Adobe Stands Up to Quakes

By IPS Correspondents and - -

A non-governmental organization in El Salvador is promoting the construction of adobe homes designed to withstand the relatively frequent earthquakes that hit Central America. Adobe is an ecological and inexpensive alternative, say experts.

Alternatives to Environmental Neo-Liberalism

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The current globalization process, has imposed an "over-economization" of the world, is tarnishing the prospects for the upcoming Johannesburg Summit.

UN Conferences and Summits

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The international conferences and summits convened by the United Nations generate intense mobilization around issues of global interest. On the current agenda are two major gatherings, one about sustainable development, the other about the information society.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Water Classes

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Water Classrooms initiative will train 3,000 school children in the northern Colombian department of Atlántico to take care of water resources, through an agreement between the private sector and the departmental government.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Ecotourism in Antarctica

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Argentina's tourism office is promoting ecological tourism in Antarctica, the frozen continent located 4,600 km from the nation's capital, and 1,200 km from its southern extreme.

Ecobreves – PERU: Transport of Dangerous Substances

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Peruvian government is launching a plan for the safe shipment of contaminating materials like petroleum, acids and other industrial products, with the support of United Nations agencies.

Ecobreves – MEXICO:: Cheap and Wasted Water

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Mexico's water consumers pay a third of the cost of purification and distribution, and just 30 percent comply with payments for the service, complain authorities.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Tegucigalpa the Most Polluted

By IPS Correspondents and - -

A report by the Swiss Foundation for Development Aid warns that the Honduran capital has the worst air pollution of Central America, which explains why there has been an increase in respiratory illnesses there.

Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR: Anti-Dengue Fumigation Criticized

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Ecologists in El Salvador denounce the use of the insecticide permithrin in the government's fumigation campaign aimed at eradicating the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits dengue fever among humans.

Ecobreves – CENTRAL AMERICA: Promoting Clean Energy

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Central America could cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 200,000 tons in the next 10 years through a plan encouraging the use of renewable energy sources, financed by the Global Environment Fund and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Ecobreves – BRASIL: Agro-Ecology Is Growing

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Family farming provides 70 percent of the food consumed in Brazil, representing an important step towards agro-ecology, say experts.

Ecobreves – PANAMA: Coffee Bees

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The presence of African bees led to a 25-percent increase in the production and weight of two varieties of coffee grown in the western Panamanian province of Chiriquí, according to a study by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Sales of Oxygen to Netherlands

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Guatemalan government is negotiating an agreement for the sale of oxygen to the Netherlands, giving the European country a larger quota for the emission of greenhouse gases and the Central American nation resources to preserve its natural wealth.