Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Adopt a Tree

By IPS Correspondents and - -
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.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Government Lists High Andes Wetlands

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Chilean Agriculture Ministry's center for natural resources information is putting together the first information system on High Andes wetlands in the three regions of the country's north.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: War Against Plastic Bags Expands to All Trash

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The ban on shops providing non-biodegradable plastic bags for their clients' purchases is in force in the Mexican capital, but is not enough to get solid waste management under control, say environmentalists.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Sounding the Alarm for Shrinking Glaciers

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Argentine chapter of the environmental group Greenpeace called on governments to fight global warming, which is melting South America's glaciers.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Biodiesel from Soy Dregs

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Soybean oil dregs can be turned into a useful biofuel, according to research going on at Brazil's University of São Paulo.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Ecologists Celebrate Center for Renewable Energies

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Chilean government of Michelle Bachelet last week inaugurated the Center for Renewable Energies (CER), specializing in research, development and promotion of unconventional sources, like solar, wind, geothermal and wave motion.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Crops Grow in Former Garbage Dump

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Community groups and Venezuela's Ministry of Environment planted 4,000 vetiver grass shoots (Vetiveria zizanioides) on the slopes of the Ojo de Agua terraces, a former sanitary landfill west of the capital.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Art Emerges from Garbage

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Ecological Processing Center for Urban Waste (CEPRU), in the far eastern Cuban city of Guantánamo, will open the doors before year's end on its open-air art gallery. The premise? Garbage also holds cultural riches.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Incentives for Organic Farming

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran Secretariat (ministry) of Agriculture and Livestock is using a new regulation to promote organic crops among some 60 non-governmental organizations that group 1,800 small and medium farmers.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Fruitful Irrigation with Sewer Water

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Urban household sewer water, processed to remove solid waste and some of the organic matter, is being used in Brazil as a fertilizer that boost sugarcane yields 50 percent.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL: Mammals in Danger

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Twenty-five percent of the world's mammal species are in danger as a result of agricultural expansion, hunting and the introduction of exotic species, according to a meeting of experts from 50 countries last week in Argentina.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Dredging to Fight Floods

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The municipal government of Tegucigalpa last week launched an intense campaign to dredge rivers and ravines and to clean up the city - all to reduce vulnerability to flooding in some 135 neighborhoods considered at risk.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Seized Lumber Sold to Compensate Jobless

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Brazil's ministries of Environment and Social Development will compensate workers who lost their jobs due to shutdowns of illegal charcoal factories and logging companies. They will be paid with revenues from sales of the seized lumber.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Polluting Pig Farms Shut Down

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The 43 pig farms that still operate in the Lake Valencia watershed in northern Venezuela will have to stop soon and retool for some other activity or move to a different site - in order to reverse contamination caused by the livestock waste.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Cane-Based Fertilizer Improves Yields

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The bio-fertilizer Fitomás-E, a sugarcane derivative that Cuba began producing this year, boosts yields of several types of crops and improves soils, according to officials from the farm sector.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Progress on Standards for Limiting Air Pollution

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Chilean government revealed the main characteristics of its bill for regulating the concentration of particulate matter in the air, with a diameter of less than 2.4 micrometers (one-millionth of a meter), the most harmful to human health.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: New Law on Environmental Education

By IPS Correspondents and - -
After reaching broad consensus with civil society organizations, the Honduran national Congress last week approved the first Law on Environmental Education.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Transgenic Oversight Agency Awakens Doubts

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Mexico has set up an agency to monitor the presence of genetically modified organisms, but environmentalists see it as a cosmetic effort.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Applause for Maritime Rules in Antarctica

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The non-governmental Whale Conservation Institute of Argentina is celebrating the International Maritime Organization's decision to regulate navigation in Antarctica's waters in order to protect the environment.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: In Pursuit of Illegal Cattle in the Amazon

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Seven meatpacking plants and two exporters in the northern Brazilian state of Pará have pledged not to accept meat or livestock from illegally deforested areas of the Amazon.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Desert Park Prepares for Vacationer Onslaught

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Venezuela's National Institute of Parks is preparing monitoring and crowd control measures for the 100,000 tourists expected during the August-September school vacation season at the Médanos de Coro National Park, 400 km northwest of the capital.
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