Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: SOS for Gulf of Fonseca

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Committee for the Protection of Flora and Fauna of the Gulf of Fonseca launched a campaign to save the mangroves of this marine ecosystem, considered a biological treasure of Central America, but damaged by the shrimp industry.

Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR: Fish instead of Rubbish

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Some 200 divers pulled a ton of garbage from Ilopango Lake, one of the main sources of freshwater for the Salvadoran capital and the principal means of subsistence for some 600 fisherfolk.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA:: Eco-Home on Display

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A house constructed of discarded materials at a cost 75 percent less than traditionally-built homes has become the star of an exposition organized this month by the Metropolitan Design Center of the Buenos Aires government.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Flotilla of Eco-Boats

By IPS Correspondents and - -
More than 200 students participated in a unique regatta at Boca de Concón beach, on the Chilean coast, navigating the Pacific in "eco-boats" made from plastic bottles they had gathered during a clean-up day at the beach.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Reinstating the Condor

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Raising hatchlings in captivity and educating the public are the main strategies of the Bioandina Foundation to restore populations of the condor, a bird that has not been found in the Venezuelan Andes for many years.

Ecobreves – CUBA: No Shelter for Migratory Birds

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Thousands of migratory birds that arrive at the Cuban peninsula of Guanahacabibes, on the island's western extreme, will not find the shelter of the usual habitat, which was destroyed by Hurricane Isidore on Sep 20.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: A Tree's Prodigious Absorption of Carbon Dioxide

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Known as the jatobá, guapinol or algarrobo, the tree with the Latin name Hymenaea courbaril, found in Latin American and Caribbean tropical and subtropical forests, has an unusually high capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas associated with global warming, says a Brazilian study.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Pro-Turtle Campaign

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The independently run Sea Turtle Restoration Program (PRETOMA) will soon launch an international campaign aimed at preserving the baula turtle in Costa Rica.

Ecobreves – MESO-AMERICA: Funds for the PPP

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Central American Economic Integration Bank (BCIE) this month approved a 150,000-dollar contribution to back the Puebla-Panama Plan (PPP), the initiative to physically integrate southern Mexico and Central America.

Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR: Certifying Coffee-Growers

By IPS Correspondents and - -
From January to August of this year, 52 coffee plantations in El Salvador received a green seal that certifies their compliance with environmental standards, granted by the international organization Rainforest Alliance.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Marine Park Needs Funds

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran government plans to launch an international fundraising campaign to create a marine park around the paradise-like islands of Bahía, in the Caribbean, which form part of the world's second largest coral reef, after the Australian Great Barrier Reef.

Ecobreves – IFAW Slams Norwegian Whalers For Largest Whale Kill in Ten Years

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW-www.ifaw.org) today slammed the High North Alliance, a Norwegian pro-whaling group, for boasting that Norway had this year broken its annual record of whales killed. In their statement, the High North Alliance announced that Norwegian whalers killed 634 minke whales in the 2002 whale-hunting season, which are expected to yield 892 tons of meat and 63 tons of blubber for the commercial market.

Ecobreves – PERU: El Niño Is Melting Glaciers

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The climatic phenomenon known as El Niño, which causes heavy rainfall and flooding along South America's Pacific coast, is accelerating the melting of glaciers in the Andes Mountains, say experts.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: In Compliance with Kyoto Protocol

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Brazil is considering an agreement to manufacture 100,000 automobiles with fuel-alcohol-driven engines through a 30 million dollar donation from Germany, as part of the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, signed in 1997.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Refinery Fined

By IPS Correspondents and - -
- The Chilean Superintendent's Office for Electricity and Fuel slapped the Concón petroleum refinery, the country's largest, with a 695,000-dollar fine for the contamination caused in four industrial accidents this year.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Beetles Infest Forest

By IPS Correspondents and - -
- A plague of pine beetles (Dentroctonus frontalis) attacked 18,000 hectares of forest in Honduras, causing 30 million dollars in losses over the last three years, reports the Honduran Forest Development Corporation.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Laser for Use in Monitoring Climate

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The use of the LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system in meteorological applications will be discussed at a meeting in Cuba of scientists from around the world in February.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Government on Trial

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) resolved to hear the charges of the Tarahumara Indians from the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, who accuse the government of allowing the destruction of their forests by lumber companies and illegal loggers.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Eco-Latina 2002 Under Way

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Fifth Latin American Conference on the Environment (Eco-Latina 2002), taking place Sep 24-27 in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, will be the region's first chance to assess the results of the Rio+10 Summit, which ended Sep 4 in Johannesburg.

Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR: No Garbage in the Gulf!

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The residents of the Salvadoran islands of Conchaguita and Zacatillo, in the Pacific Ocean, are the focus of a government plan to halt the dumping of solid waste into the sea, and to value the natural wealth of the Gulf of Fonseca.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Land in the Hands of Men

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Around 82 percent of the private individual landowners in Nicaragua are men, with the remaining land belonging to women, according to the National Agricultural Census recently released by the government.
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