Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Herds of Turtles

Turtle ranching, in some cases for meat exports, is on the rise in the northwestern Brazilian state of Amazonas, where there are 69 entrepreneurs working with the green light from the Brazilian Institute for Environment (IBAMA), a government agency.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Forest Monitoring Network

The Chilean forestry research institute, INFOR, announced on Jun. 21 that it is creating an environmental monitoring network for the country's forests, thanks to two projects that demanded state investment of one million dollars.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Drought Forces Survival Strategies

The persistent drought that has hit most of Cuba's rural areas has forced farmers and ranchers to seek alternatives for the survival of their animals, which are suffering shortages of water and adequate pastures.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: River Threatens Capital

A 20-meter gap opened in the cement channel that guides the Guaire River through the Venezuelan capital, and its waters, polluted by the sewage from slum neighborhoods has come into contact with the wall that sustains the canal and the main highway through Caracas.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Micro-Enterprise Recycles Trash

Ten Honduran provinces will be part of a Latin American project to produce organic fertilizer and thus reduce pollution, Agriculture Minister Mariano Jiménez told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Fewer Forest Fires

Guatemala recorded 368 forest fires from January to early June of this year, just half the 731 that occurred in the same period in 2003.

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Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Activists Denounce Logging in Preserve

The Argentine non-governmental Foundation for Environmental Defense issued a warning that the indigenous Mbya community could disappear if a logging company continues operations in their territory

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Indigenous Hands, No Glyphosate

Indians in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta nature reserve in northern Colombia began an effort on Jun. 15 to manually eradicate illegal crops of coca and marijuana as part of a governmental plan to fight the drug trade.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL: Photo Contest for Environmental Diversity

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has organized a worldwide photo contest around the theme of challenges confronting environmental diversity.

Ecobreves – PERU: Species Patent Proposal Rejected

Peru will not agree to the system on patents for plants and animals that the United States proposed in a bilateral free trade agreement, ''because it does not adequately protect the wealth of Peruvian biodiversity, nor does it guarantee the ancestral rights of indigenous communities.''

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Santiaguito Volcano Threatens Rivers

Guatemala's disaster relief agencies have set up a center at a farm 170 km west of the capital to monitor the dangerous emissions of the Santiaguito Volcano, which are affecting the Samalá River.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Government Protects Protesters

The Honduran government has promised to protect Roman Catholic priest Andrés Tamayo and the rest of the participants in the National March for Life, after an attempt was made on the life of another priest last week in the northeastern department of Olancho.

Ecobreves – CENTRAL AMERICA:: Alliance Against Species Trafficking

El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua this month launched a joint strategy to fight illegal trafficking of plant an animal species in the Gulf of Fonseca region, on the Pacific, Honduran Environment Minister Patricia Panting told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA:: Great Potential for Ethanol

This Central American country has the capacity to supply itself with ethanol fuel and reduce vehicular air pollution, but currently lags behind in regards to this technology.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Erosion Takes Toll on Beaches

Ninety percent of Cuba's beaches are seeing some degree of erosion, according to a study released this month by the island's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Condor Hatches in Captivity

Venezuela has produced a hatchling of the condor of the Andes (Vultur gryphus) at its Bararida Zoo in the city of Barquisimeto, 250 km west of the capital. The proud parents are Bud and Rana, a condor pair brought from the United States.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Storing Precious Water Underground

Underground depositories could be a new solution for the population in Brazil's semiarid northeast, where frequent droughts have caused human tragedy and the migration of millions of people to the country's southern regions.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Ecotourism Alliance with the Private Sector

The Chilean government's National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) is planning to increase partnerships with private enterprise for ecotourism projects in protected natural areas that currently are not tourism destinations.

Ecobreves – PERU: Peasants Ready to Cut Pipeline

Peasant farmers from the Convención Valley, in the southeastern Peruvian department of Cuzco, threaten to destroy one kilometer of the Camisea-Lima natural gas pipeline if the construction companies Techint, Plus Petrol and TGP do not agree to compensate them with 20 million dollars for environmental damages to the area.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Ozone-Depleting Substances Eliminated

Two Colombian companies based in the northern city of Barranquilla are implementing technology friendly to the Earth's ozone layer, thanks to a donation of 1.4 million dollars from the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol on Ozone-Depleting Substances.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Fomenting Clean Production

- The Honduran Business Council for Sustainable Development, with backing from the United Nations, will begin a program in July to promote alternative energy sources and sustainable waste management in the industrial zones along the northern coast.

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