Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Peasants Recuperate Forests

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Some 3,000 peasant farming families in the northern Colombian department of Bolívar this month completed two years in the governmental program Guardabosques, eradicating illegal drug crops in the areas where they work.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Mega-Pipeline Considered Nonviable

By - - and IPS Correspondents
In the short term, the project to build a gas pipeline more than 8,000 km long, from Venezuela through Brazil and ending in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, is financially nonviable, Giuseppe Bacoccoli, of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Maya Monument Discovered

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A group of Guatemalan archeologists discovered somewhat by luck a Maya monument that dates to the year 677, in the northern department of Petén.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Manual for Giving Power to Civil Society

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Environmental organizations in Argentina will draft a manual of best practices for how civil society can play a role in the pacts agreed at international summits, Cecilia Iglesias, president of the Environmental Network Civil Association, told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Nickel Mining Returns

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A Guatemalan subsidiary of the Canadian Skye Resources will pick up on nickel mining in the northeast of this Central American country.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Reforestation in Northern Venezuela

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Venezuela initiated a program for the recovery in eight years of up to 400,000 hectares of forest in the areas to the north of the Orinoco River, with the planting of 92 million trees, announced Environment Minister Jacqueline Faría.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Iron's Decontaminant Properties Explored

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A team of scientists from the chemistry institute at the University of Sao Paulo is researching cheaper and more efficient ways to make use of the decontaminating property of iron.

Ecobreves – LATIN AMERICA: 'Green' Volunteers Mobilize

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Thousands of people in Latin America will take part in clean-up and repair campaigns for parks, streets and beaches Sep. 16-18.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Limits on Drag Net Fishing

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The regulations for drag net fishing for merluza (Merlucius hubbsi), which take effect in Chile on Sep. 15 to protect the smaller fish of this species, are a positive step but insufficient, says the environmental group Oceana.

Ecobreves – CUBA: A Network to Benefit Beaches

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The coastal management office of the Cuban resort city of Varadero is promoting a Latin American network for the exchange of information on positive experiences in protecting the region's beaches.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Hemispheric Eco-Forum

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Involving national leaders, politicians, diplomats and civil society leaders in the search for solutions is the aim of the "Greenmeeting of the Americas", which has its fifth edition Sep 20-22 in Belo Horizonte, capital of the southern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: New Air Pollution Controls

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The Argentine capital now has two air quality monitoring stations that will for the first time allow officials to track the city's pollution levels and design policies to fight emissions of the so-called greenhouse gases that lead to global warming.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Trees Planted in New Transport System

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Approximately 60,000 trees will be planted along the Integrated Mass Transit System being built in the western Colombian city of Cali to compensate for the trees that have to be removed to make way for the new routes.

Ecobreves – PERU: Mining Law Includes Satellite Monitoring

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A law passed recently in Peru states that mining companies will have to submit to rigorous standards for minimizing environmental harm and must present financial backing to ensure that once their operations end they will not leave behind contaminants.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Uncertainty Despite Decline in Deforestation

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon saw a sharp reduction this year, but the future is uncertain, and there is no assurance that this positive trend will continue, say environmentalists and researchers.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Compensation for Families on Overflowing Lake

By - - and IPS Correspondents
More than a thousand families who lost their homes on the shores of the flooded Lake Valencia, Venezuela's second largest, are receiving compensation from the government and will have to rebuild their lives elsewhere.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Polluting Gas Replaced

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A program for curbing the use of ozone-depleting substances in the eastern Cuban province of Las Tunas has replaced the contaminating gas freon in 2,100 refrigerators in the first seven months of this year.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Biodiesel Made from Nut Oil

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The Guatemalan company Octagon planted 2,500 hectares of 'piñón', or physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.), from which oil can be extracted for use as biodiesel, a fuel that is cheaper and less polluting than those derived from petroleum.

Ecobreves – CHILE: State TV Runs Ads for Controversial Mining Company

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Environmental and citizen groups protested last week outside the state-run Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) for broadcasting advertisement for a Canadian mining company that aims to remove three glaciers in the northern Chilean Andes to extract gold, silver and copper.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: City of Natal Promotes Recycling

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The first National Congress for Sustainable Management of Solid Waste, to take place Sep. 1-2 in the northeastern Brazilian city of Natal, will focus on garbage recycling projects that can be financed through the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Testing a Method to Prevent Evaporation

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A powder sprinkled over water, creating a thin film, could reduce evaporation, say scientists who are working on ways to fight water shortages. Evaporation is a problem in Brazil's semi-arid Northeast region, where 75 percent of the water in its reservoirs is lost to this natural phenomenon.
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