Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Mangroves in Danger

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Before year end, Mexican lawmakers could pass a bill that would dismantle protection of mangrove forests, a type of ecosystem that today covers a total of 650,000 hectares -- 306,000 less than in 1993.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Illegal Sand Removal Threatens River

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The illegal extraction of sand for industry from the natural barrier that separates the sea from the Toa River, Cuba's biggest, threatens the ecosystem in the area of the eastern city of Baracoa.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Threatened Fauna on New Currency

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The bills for two, five, 10, 20, 50 and 100 bolívares fuertes, Venezuela's currency, will debut in January to replace the existing bolívar, and on their reverse side will show native animal species that are in danger of extinction, confirmed the Central Bank.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Court Says OK to Building in Nature Reserve

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran Supreme Court of Justice upheld the construction of housing in the area of La Tigra National Park, a preserve that serves as the capital's environmental lungs.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Labor Risks on Salmon Farms Denounced

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental and workers' organizations have criticized the labor conditions of the salmon farms and processing plants during the "Global Week of Action" of the Pure Salmon Campaign, celebrated Oct. 29-Nov. 2 in seven countries, including Chile.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Electric Cars Hit the Streets

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Several Brazilian companies are testing the Palio Elétrico car, a battery-run version from the Italian manufacturer Fiat.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Environmental Observatory by Year's End

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Lawyers hired by non-governmental organizations will begin in December to keep a close eye on Mexico's environmental authorities to stop any irregular activity.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Ethanol Bus Rolls in Sao Paulo

By IPS Correspondents and - -
In December, Sao Paulo will put in circulation the first bus run exclusively on ethanol, for a one-year test run.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Colombia Supports Biodiesel Production

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Colombian government is opening a biodiesel processing plant in the northern Honduran region of Sinaloa, Honduran Deputy Agriculture Minister Nehemías Martínez told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Government to Shut Down Dump

By IPS Correspondents and - -
After five days of protests outside the Punta Lara dump, south of La Plata, the Argentine government promised on Oct. 23 to comply in December with the judicial mandate to close the facility.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Farm Prices Push Deforestation

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon slowed nearly 50 percent in the last three years, but that trend has been reversed according to a new report.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Call to Cut Calories in Flavored Milks

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Chilean consumer group ODECU is urging companies that make flavored milks to reduce the calories of those products, and pushing for a law requiring labeling foods with the colors of a traffic light.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Insufficient Showers

By IPS Correspondents and - -
- The persistent and in some cases torrential rains that thrashed Cuba's eastern provinces in recent weeks do not mean an end to the drought there or other regions of the country -- thought they did benefit agriculture.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: African Snail Attacks Local Flora

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The giant African land snail (Achatina fulica), first found in Venezuela a decade ago, is devouring leaves and fruits in gardens and small farm plots in Aragua, in the north, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Banana Pest Genome Deciphered

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Brazilian agricultural research agency EMBRAPA completed, along with U.S., French, Dutch and Mexican institutions, the sequencing of the 11,000 genes of the fungus that causes black sigatoka, which plagues banana plantations around the world.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Forestry Law Awaits Elections

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Argentine Senate will not debate the native forest protection bill until after the Oct. 28 elections, despite an effort by environmentalists that collected 1.2 million signatures demanding passage of the law, parliamentary sources told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Hydroelectric Dam Is Dead, Say Farmers

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The refusal of Mexican authorities to give up on construction of La Parota hydroelectric dam in the southern state of Guerrero, suspended by a court ruling, is a crude deception, say peasant farmers.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Pact for Olancho Forest

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Timber businesses and environmental groups in the northeastern Honduran department (province) of Olancho announced Oct. 8 that they had agreed on a pact for forestry management, under military supervision, of the Telica River Basin.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Amazon Pact for Zero Deforestation

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Eliminating deforestation in the Amazon by 2015 is the target announced by nine environmental groups Oct. 3 in Brasilia.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Demand for Law Against Agro-Toxins

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Alliance for a Better Quality of Life has asked Chile's President Michelle Bachelet to give urgent status to a bill that bans the storage, transport and sale of pesticides of 1A (highly dangerous) and 1B (very dangerous) pesticides.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Local Governments Prepare for Forestry Law

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The environmental agencies of 23 municipalities, in four of the 18 Honduran departments (provinces), began last week to study the implementation of the new Forestry Law, passed in mid-September after eight years of pushing from environmental groups.
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