Trees: Out of the Forest and Into the Oven

The boom in electricity production from biomass in the industrialized North is generating boom in demand for wood from natural forests or tree plantations - with environmental and social consequences.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Sewage Water Contaminates Crops

Sewage water can be used to boost agricultural yields, as Tierramérica has reported, but can also contaminate crops and soil with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: CFCs on the Decline

Since 2004, Venezuela has reduced consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by 90 percent, reports Osmer Castillo, president of the Industrial Reconversion Fund. These compounds, used in refrigeration, deplete the planet's ozone layer.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Promoting Tourism in the Zapata Marsh

Cuba has decided to boost the tourism profile of the Zapata Marsh, the Caribbean's largest wetland, but is implementing a strategy to ensure the preservation of this rich ecosystem, located 156 kilometers southeast of Havana.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Endangered Species in Cloud Forest

Experts from the non-governmental Zamorano Biodiversity Center of Honduras have called on officials and community groups to preserve the cloud forest of the northern Yoro Mountain National Park.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Progress on Volcano Monitoring

Chile's National Volcanic Monitoring Network is setting its sights on establishing four observatories by 2013.

A BITTER PILL FROM THE DRUG INDUSTRY

The conclusions of the final European Commission report on competition abuses in the pharmaceutical industry, released on July 8, are shocking and have wide-ranging ramifications. And yet the media have largely failed to cover it.

THE LONG EXILE FROM MOTHER EARTH

Today there are two fundamentally different ways in which people consider the Earth. For many it is simply a vast material object lacking spirit and bequeathed to the human race to exploit as it wills. For others, it is our home, a self-regulating superorganism with a unique community of life.

THE LONG EXILE FROM MOTHER EARTH

Today there are two fundamentally different ways in which people consider the Earth. For many it is simply a vast material object lacking spirit and bequeathed to the human race to exploit as it wills. For others, it is our home, a self-regulating superorganism with a unique community of life.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Filming Banned in Protected Area

Residents of the Argentine town of Sierra de la Ventana, in the southwest of Buenos Aires province, were able to stop a movie company from filming in an environmentally protected zone.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: First in Collecting Agro-Toxin Containers

Brazilian farmers collected 24,400 used containers of agrochemicals in 2008, or 94 percent of the total sold in the country, which is the best rate achieved in the world, reported the National Institute of Container Processing.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Time to Update Water Infrastructure

Floods in the north and northeast of Mexico City require new methods for rapid removal of rainwater to prevent overflow of canals during times of heavy rains, says Agustín Breña, an expert in water engineering at the Autonomous Metropolitan University.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: New Weather Station

A new weather station, which will allow scientists to track the effects of climate change in one of the main productive valleys of Honduras, was inaugurated last week by local officials, aid representatives and academics.

To Fly Around the World – Without Fuel

In the era of climate change, the sun could be the future energy source for the aviation industry.

The Goal: Not a Drop Wasted

A variety of new methods for making best use of rainwater are being tested in Mexico, which faces water shortages that will only grow worse in the coming decades.

Women Recycle for Income and Environment

The recovery of recyclable waste now sustains a group of women who live along the salty Laguna de Tacarigua, a slice of biodiversity along Venezuela's Caribbean coast.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Cell Therapy for Periodontal Problems

Cuba has begun T-cell therapy to treat periodontal diseases that involve bone loss, and has seen positive results, Amparo Pérez, head of a research team in Havana, told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Study Calls for More Biomass and Wind Energy

Energy from biomass and from wind, still underutilized, should be a priority to complement Brazil's hydroelectric base, according to a study by the Federal University of Brazil.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Guide Published on Indigenous Peoples

The World Wildlife Fund presented in Chile the document "WWF Principles on Indigenous Peoples and Conservation in Project and Program Management," translated to Spanish and with case studies from Chile and the rest of Latin America.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Adopt a Tree

The Botanical Garden of Venezuela's Central University, a 70-hectare green oasis in the middle of Caracas, this month launched a membership program with the slogan "Adopt a Tree," for an annual payment of 180 dollars and the donor's name on a plaque at the foot of the tree.

TEDDY KENNEDY: A CHAMPION OF JUSTICE

It was deeply moving to see crowds lining the streets from Hyannis Port to Boston, from the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to Hanscom Field, and from Andrews Air Force Base to Arlington Cemetery, -often ten deep- holding placards, waving American flags, saluting; each with her or his own story of being touched by Senator Edward KennedyÂ's vision, spirit and love. People came because they appreciated his courageous stances on international human rights, civil rights, health care, minimum wage, support in multiple forms for the oppressed and dispossessed. And mostly because they knew he loved people--not the people, but actual, living, breathing human beings.