Rescuing the Johannesburg Summit

A campaign is under way to save the Rio+10 Summit, an effort to reconcile North-South relations.

Jorge Cabrera – 'Selfishness is a form of environmental terrorism'

Within a decade we will see serious and irreversible effects of environmental deterioration, says this Costa Rican expert in environmental law and author of legislation to protect biodiversity.

Mermaids

The manatee and the dugong are strange-looking sea animals belonging to the same natural order: sirenids. They have existed on Earth for millions of years, but their future is quite gloomy.

Ecobreves – REGIONAL: Sustainable Cities

In 2015 the world will have 23 mega-cities with more than 10 million inhabitants each, and 19 will be in developing countries, said experts at the "Reinventing the City" forum, held in Montreal Jun 27 under the auspices of the Secretariat of Environmental Management for Latin America and the Caribbean (SEMA).

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: More and More Bicycles

Bicycle use in the Argentine capital rose 51 percent in the last year as a result of the country's profound economic crisis, according to a study by the Association of Bicycle Riders.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: War against Red Tide

- The Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico is ready to study the micro-algae that cause "red tide", an unpredictable phenomenon that causes fish kills and can make people ill who consume seafood coming from affected areas.

Ecobreves – PERU: Climate in the Past

Scientists at the University of Piura, a northwestern department of Peru, are studying the climate conditions of the past using the rings in the cross sections of trees found in the regions arid forests.

Chile Eludes Environmental Clauses

The Chilean government is attempting to avoid environmental stipulations in its trade accords with the European Union and the United States, saying they are a source of arbitrary interpretation, potential disputes and penalties for non-compliance.

Navigating through the Jungle

The birth of a quetzal or a weasel's surprise attack on a nest in Costa Rica's cloud forest is now within the reach of the world's Internet users as part of a project aimed at conserving this unique ecosystem.

Meso-America

The Meso-American Biological Corridor that extends across the countries of Central America and southern Mexico is an important project for the future of the planet. It seeks to halt the environmental degradation of a region that is home to eight percent of all known species.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL Forest Grows in Dump

A forest is growing in the midst of a 300,000-square meter plot that until 1995 accumulated 16 million tons of garbage in the Santo Amaro district in the southern part of the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

Ecobreves – CHILE: No to Radioactive Waste

Greenpeace-Chile and other environmental organizations demonstrated outside the Japanese embassy in Santiago against the upcoming passage through Chilean waters of a Japanese ship carrying radioactive fuel to Great Britain.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Natural Insecticide

- Farmers in the central Cuban province of Ciego de Avila have begun massive cultivation of the Nim tree (Azadirachta indica) to take advantage of its qualities as a pesticide.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Medicine from Mangos

The Cuban pharmaceutical industry will begin sales this year of a natural product to reduce stress, while research continues on the therapeutical capacities of dozens of the island's native plants.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Demand for Amazonian Fruit

Companies from Brazil and abroad are ordering hundreds of tons of the nutritious camú-camú fruit, but the country's production is limited, reports the National Institute of Amazonian Research.

New Outbreaks of Hunger in Latin America

Fourteen percent of the region's population does not have enough income to obtain the minimum amount of food to maintain health, experts are telling the leaders gathered for the World Food Summit this week in Rome.

World Food Summit

The World Food Summit is under way this week (May 10-13) in the Italian capital with the aim of reinforcing they key commitment made by the world's governments: by the year 2015, the number of people suffering hunger will be reduced by half.

Ecobreves – LATIN AMERICA: Certification for Sustainable Tourism

A system for a regionally recognized certification of sustainable tourism was proposed at the Summit of Tourism and Environment Officials of Ibero-America and the Caribbean, which met in late May in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.

Japan: Hybrid Cars in Race against Climate Change

The Japanese car industry is leading a technological revolution by coming out with fast, modern cars that produce less pollution and thus would help curb the greenhouse effect.

Emissions Trading Market Falls Short of Hopes

The first transactions on Britain's greenhouse gas emissions market have been disappointing, but it is too soon to say it has totally failed, say experts.

Rescuing the Andean Bear

The spectacled bear, arrived in the Andes Mountains some 16,000 years ago. It is the only South American bear species, and its prospects for survival are gloomy.