Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – MEXICO:: Fruit to Fight Poverty

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Mexican scientists are working to turn 'pitaya' and 'xoconoxtle', native Mexican fruits, into products for export -- and catalysts for development for poor communities.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Pinabete Tree Traffickers Arrested

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Eight people were detained in Guatemala in early December for trafficking in 'pinabete' (Abies gatemalensis), a plant that is on its way to extinction and is used illegally as a Christmas tree.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Protesting Against the Central American Free Trade Area

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Local farmers and ranchers are asking the Guatemalan government to exclude them from the free trade agreement that five Central American countries are negotiating with the United States.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Cuban Flicker Changes Habits

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The bird known as Fernandina’s or Cuban Flicker (Colaptes fernandinae) no longer pecks holes in tree trunks to make its nests, which is accentuating the risk that the species will go extinct, say researchers.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: TV Campaign to Protect Natural Beauty

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Nicaragua’s Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Arturo Harding, announced a televised campaign aimed at preserving and publicizing the natural beauty and biodiversity of the Biological Corridor of the Atlantic (CBA).

Ecobreves – CHILE: Farming Community Fights Construction of Thermoelectric Plant

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The rural community of San Francisco de Mostazal, 70 kms south of Santiago, filed a legal motion in court to block the construction of a thermoelectric plant that would hurt farm activity in the region and pollute the environment.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Peasant Farmers Occupy Yacambú Park

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Sixty landless peasant families have occupied part of the Yacambú Park, 300 kms west of Caracas. The park is the heart of the Yacambú River basin, which is to feed the Yacambú-Quíbor irrigation project.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Collecting and Storing Rainwater

By IPS Correspondents and - -
There is a growing focus on converting rainwater into a source of water for use by the population of Brazil, a country with enormous hydric resources, which are, however, poorly distributed. Experts are recommending, for example, the construction of underground dams to prevent evaporation, and the plowing of furrows with no inclination, to keep the rainwater from running off.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Spider Monkey Alert

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The variegated spider monkey (Ateles hybridus) is in critical danger due to reduced habitat, says the update of the Red List of Endangered Species 2003, of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). But Venezuelan researchers question the scope of the habitat measurements.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Ecologists Get Ready for National Meet

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The first National Environment Conference, Nov. 28-30 in Brasilia, will be an opportunity to strengthen the positions of Minister Marina Silva and the ecological movement, which have suffered blows from several recent governmental measures.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Bikeway for the Alameda

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmentalists are applauding the project of the capital's municipal government to build a bicycle route along the famous Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, better known as the Alameda.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Monitoring Mahogany Trade

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Guatemala stepped up controls on mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) in mid-November, just as the tree species is added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA:: People Take Part in Environmental Management

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Costa Rican civil society will play an active role in managing natural resources with the launch of regional councils in the country's 11 conservation areas.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Soldiers Protect Sea Turtles

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Some 60,000 Olive Ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys Olivacea) are on the Pacific beaches of Nicaragua to lay eggs -- and under the close watch of the army

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Eco-Houses for Farmers

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Organizations of small farmers in the departments of Cortés and Yoro, in northern Honduras, are to present a proposal to the government to build ecological housing as a means to reduce the deficit of 750,000 homes.

Ecobreves – CUBA:: Recovering Lands Hurt by Nickel Mining

By IPS Correspondents and - -
More than 10,000 hectares leveled by nickel exploitation have been reforested in the Moa municipality in the eastern Cuban province of Holguín.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Environmental Initiatives Expo

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Entrepreneurs and authorities from throughout the Americas will learn about successful ecological initiatives in Costa Rica when they visit the Environmental Solutions Fair, to take place here Dec. 3-5.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Coffee-Growers Reject U.S. Proposal

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The National Coffee Association of Guatemala (Anacafe) rejected the U.S. proposal to define rules of origin for cafe based on soluble coffee and processed beverages, instead of based on where the coffee was grown.

Ecobreves – MEXICO:: Commission to Assess Environmental Accord

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation is irrelevant, said a Mexican non-governmental organization as a public process began last week to evaluate the 10 years the treaty signed by Canada, Mexico and the United States has been in force.

Ecobreves – PERU:: Autonomy Sought for Amazon Institute

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Indigenous and environmental groups, universities and officials in the eastern Peruvian region of Selva are asking Congress to restore the autonomy of the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP), which in July was made into an agency of the Ministry of Production.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Vast Marine Biodiversity Discovered

By IPS Correspondents and - -
An inventory of mollusk species in the reef of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, on the Costa Rican Caribbean coast, has allowed the site to be declared unique in the world for its great biological diversity.
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