Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Geologists Warn of Landslide Risks in Capital

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Four marginalized neighborhoods in Tegucigalpa are at "high risk" of facing major landslides during the rainy season, a team of geologists from Costa Rica concluded after a three-week study in Honduras.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Trade Unionists Denounce Smelter Pollution

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Workers at the state-owned Venalum aluminum smelter in the northeastern Venezuelan city of Guayana report that because of a lack of repairs to the plant’s treatment facilities, toxic gases like toluene and benzene are being directly released into the atmosphere.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Organic Produce Consumption on the Rise

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The consumption of organic produce is growing by between 20 and 30 percent a year in Brazil, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA).

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Timber Industry Calls for Government Transparency

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Timber Association of Honduras has demanded more transparency from the government in its measures to protect the forests and the activities and expenditures carried out by the Armed Forces through the so-called green battalions.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Protecting the Nacaome River Basin

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Communities in the southern Honduran department of Valle are taking the first steps towards reforestation of the basin of the Nacaome River, which provides water and electrical power to some 120,000 people who live in the surrounding area.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Sawdust as Energy Source

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A small town in the northeastern Argentine province of Chaco has built a plant that transforms timber industry waste into renewable energy, with the support of the federal government.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Water Purification with Solar Power

By IPS Correspondents and - -
An electrical engineering student at the Federal University of Goiás in Brazil has invented a system to purify water without using electricity, thereby preventing carbon dioxide emissions.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Greater Protection of Islands Demanded

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Despite their economic, strategic and environmental importance, Mexico’s 1,644 islands are neglected and little studied, according to a group of specialized agencies.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Protests Against Oil Refinery

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Residents of the town of Las Piedras on the northern outskirts of Punto Fijo, the site of a major oil refinery complex on the Paraguaná peninsula in northwestern Venezuela, have staged street protests over the coke residue and other toxic contaminants emitted by the refinery.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: New Geological Risk Zones Identified

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Students and geologists from Costa Rica will undertake the mapping of new areas at risk of landslides and flooding in the Honduran capital.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Biodiesel Byproduct Also a Source of Energy

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A waste byproduct of biodiesel production can be transformed from a source of environmental pollution into a source of energy, according to a study conducted by the São Carlos School of Engineering at São Paulo University.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Urgent Measures Needed to Protect Jaguars

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Argentine Wildlife Foundation (FVSA) has issued a call for urgent measures to protect the jaguar (Panthera onca), the largest feline in the Western hemisphere.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Purifying Water with Coconut Shells

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A filter of coconut shells, bamboo and sand can be used to purify wastewater, according to researchers at the Campinas State University School of Civil Engineering. The method they have developed is a low-cost sanitation alternative ideal for small-scale operations, they say.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Social Pact for Forest Conservation

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The local inhabitants, authorities and environmental groups in the municipality of Ojojona, a 20-minute drive away from Tegucigalpa in the central Honduran department of Francisco Morazán, have agreed to a 40-year moratorium on the use of forests in the area, in order to protect them from the advance of illegal logging.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Micro Hydro Dam Project Planned

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The government of Honduras and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are studying the construction of 50 micro hydroelectric dams over the next five years.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Virtual Encyclopedia of Amazon Biodiversity

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Brazilian National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) has partnered with U.S. computer giant IBM to create Wikiflora, a collaborative website that will serve as a digital encyclopedia of biodiversity in the Amazon region.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Biopesticides Combat Malaria in Africa

By IPS Correspondents and - -
An integrated anti-malaria program being carried out in a number of African countries with Cuban biological products and technology is yielding good results, according to the Cuban state-run pharmaceutical company Labiofam.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Invading Snails Advance 100 Kilometers a Year

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The carefully landscaped grounds of dozens of condominiums in the northern Venezuelan city of Lechería, on the Caribbean coast, are suffering an invasion of giant African land snails (Achatina fulica), which are now found throughout almost all of South America and on Caribbean islands like Barbados, Guadalupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Wind Power Potential Ignored by Government

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Wind power is an abundant source of energy in Brazil, but it is not given priority in government plans, according to a study by the Institute of Electrotechnics and Energy at São Paulo University.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Mesoamerican Drylands Project Launched

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Marginalized communities in four states in southern Mexico and the central Guatemalan department of Baja Verapaz will be involved in a project to improve natural resource management in areas with scant rainfall.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Schools in Mendoza to Teach Safe Handling of Pesticides

By IPS Correspondents and - -
An Argentine government agency is carrying out a program to teach students in rural primary schools in the western province of Mendoza about the safe handling of pesticides.
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