Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: World Forum on Sustainable Tourism

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Tourism that is not seasonal or destructive, that preserves biodiversity and has cultural and social content is the aim of the World Forum on Tourism for Peace and Sustainable Development, whose second annual meeting, DestiNations 2005, takes place Oct. 24-26 in this Brazilian city.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: War on Invasive Species

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Of the 204 exotic land species recorded to date in Brazil, 130 have become invasive, spreading rapidly because they had no predators, and destroying the local biodiversity.

Ecobreves – CHILE: “Smart” Traffic Signals

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Four computer science students at the Federico Santa María Technical University in Valparaíso, 120 km west of the Chilean capital, have developed the "Smart Traffic" program, which will modernize the coordination of traffic signals along urban vehicle circulation routes.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Protest Against Ban on Scrap Exports

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Hundreds of workers at recycling companies protested Oct. 3 outside the Venezuelan Parliament against a government decree that banned the export of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Re-investing in Sustainable Heritage

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Declared Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations in 1982, the historic center of Havana in 10 years generated 160 million dollars in tourism, services and taxes, most of which was reinvested in rehabilitating the district itself.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Misquitos Challenge World Bank Project

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The indigenous Misquito peoples of Honduras and Nicaragua have expressed their doubts about the World Bank's Mesoamerican Corazon Biosphere project, saying it is exclusive and an attack on the preservation of their population and culture.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Recycling Vehicle Air Conditioners

By IPS Correspondents and - -
By the end of the year the Brazilian government will deliver most of the 335 machines used for recycling the gases used in the air conditioning units of cars, trucks and other vehicles.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Maradona Defends Wichí Indigenous Peoples

By IPS Correspondents and - -
On his television program "La noche del 10", the most watched show in Argentina, former soccer star Diego Maradona asked the government to prevent the clearing of the Pizarro reserve, in the northeastern province of Salta, where a community of Wichí Indians lives.

Ecobreves – PERU: Denunciations of Mining Pollution

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Community leaders in the mining province of Oyón, 160 km northeast of Lima, are demanding that the government take immediate steps to prevent the contamination caused by the company Buenaventura, world leader in silver production.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Companies for Cleaner Production

By IPS Correspondents and - -
From May 3 to May 6, 2006, in Bento Goncalves, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, the second International Ecological and Environmental Fair (FIEMA) will promote new technologies for sustainable development.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Accelerating Fruit Maturation with Chemicals

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Cuban experts warn that the indiscriminate use of chemicals to speed up the maturation process of fruits and vegetables threatens the health of consumers in this Caribbean country, which officially favors ecological farming methods.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Aquatic Species Discovered

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Two fish species, five new types of crustaceans and two micromollusks were found in the delta of the Orinoco River, in northeast Venezuela, by researchers from the LaSalle Foundation for the Natural Sciences.

Ecobreves – CHILE:: Defending Water Against Mining Company

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Los Caimanes, a small rural community in northern Chile, launched a signature collection campaign to convince the government to prohibit a big mining company from building a reservoir that would contaminate the area's aquifers, the only local source of potable water.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Forests Produce More Intact than Cleared for Farming

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Amazon forests that remain intact are more ''competitive'' than farming in this globalized economy, according to a doctoral thesis recently approved by the University of Brasilia.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Christmas Threatens the Pinabete

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The situation of the pinabete (Abies guatemalensis R), an endangered tree in Guatemala, worsens every Christmas season due to the widespread use of its branches as decoration by the mostly Roman Catholic population.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Invention for Saving Wash Water

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A mechanism for re-using nearly all of the water utilized in the clothes washing machine reduces water consumption of 6,000 liters to just 15, and is very inexpensive, the president of Brazil's National Association of Inventors, Carlos Mazzei, told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – CHILE: No Risk of Drought

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Heavy rains and snowfall over much of Chile, more than 70 percent above average and triggered by a prolonged, harsh winter, have ruled out any risk of drought and energy rationing that was proposed earlier this year.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Building on a Devastated Mountain

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Venezuela is considering the construction of 30,000 housing units on 3,500 hectares in the north of Avila, the mountain that separates Caracas from the Caribbean Sea, and where flooding and mudslides left thousands dead in 1999, says Environment minister Jacqueline Faría.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Eco-Education Expands

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Ninety-four percent of Brazilian schools include environmental education in their curriculum, as a regular course or in specific projects, according to the 2004 school census, which covered 215,000 schools.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Bamboo In Vitro

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A project to develop bamboo in Cuba aims to obtain and multiply "in vitro" four species useable as lumber in order to expand its use throughout this Caribbean island.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Protests Put the Brakes on Water Law

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Guatemalan lawmakers have withdrawn a bill to establish the Water Law in the wake of protests staged in mid-September by thousands of peasant farmers in the western part of the country.
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