Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Respiratory Illnesses on the Decline

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The incidence of acute respiratory ailments in Nicaragua decreased 23 percent in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2002, says Maribel Orozco, director of epidemiological monitoring at the Ministry of Health.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Ten Years Protecting the Environment

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran non-governmental Vida Environment and Development Foundation has under its custody, after a decade of existence, 300,000 hectares of protected areas.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Bacteria Eat Alkaline Batteries

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Bacteria Eat Alkaline Batteries BUENOS AIRES - Sulfur-eating bacteria may be the solution to the contamination caused by used alkaline batteries, say scientists at Argentina's National University of San Martín.

Ecobreves – PERU: Recycling Plan for Lima

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Peruvian non-governmental Office of Environmental Assessment and Consulting is designing a plan to organize the efforts of some 5,000 informal garbage collectors, who recycle 10 percent of Lima's solid waste.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Dumps Threaten Aircraft

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A program to relocate the garbage dumps near the northern Colombian airport of Barranquilla and a citizen education campaign aim to put an end to flight safety problems.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Bacteria Against Contamination

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The chemistry department of the University of Carabobo in Valencia, central Venezuela, is investing the use of thermophile bacteria, which exist at temperatures of 40 to 60 degrees Celsius, as biological catalysts for destroying organic material that has contaminated Cabriales River and Lake Valencia.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL:: Desertification Threatens Migratory Birds

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Desertification threatens the hundreds of millions of migratory birds that cross the world's arid regions twice a year, warned experts at the conference of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held here Aug. 25 to Sep. 5.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Canine Disease Kills Foxes

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Distemper, a disease that affects dogs in particular, is claiming the lives in Chile of culpeo and chilla foxes, both protected species, in the areas of Puerto Velero and Fray Jorge National Park, 350 km north of the capital

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Radio Dramas Promote Public Health

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The non-governmental League of Mental Hygiene has designed a radio theater program titled "Let's Go to the Market", which begins broadcast this month by 150 community radio stations here, and aims to improve the population's health.

Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR: Barrels of Dangerous Toxin

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A third of the 92 barrels with the dangerous agro-chemical toxaphene, abandoned in the eastern Salvadoran city of San Miguel, are damaged and are contaminating the air, soil and water, report environmental groups, including CESTA-Friends of the Earth.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Replacing Maize with Soy

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A tropical mold has forced maize growers in the northeastern Honduran department of Olancho to replace that crop with soy, vice-minister of agriculture José María Ordóñez, told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Reusing Urban Wastewater

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Researchers at the University of Brasilia, who have been studying water reuse since 1996, support local projects with the aim of saving 60 percent of urban water consumption.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL:: Demands to Eliminate Farm Subsidies

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Heads of state and of government meeting in Cuba urged the WTO Fifth Ministerial Conference, this week in the Mexican city of Cancun, to speed up the process of progressive elimination of agricultural subsidies.

Ecobreves – PERU:: Alcohol Replaces Lead in Fuel

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Peru will begin to reduce the proportion of lead in 84-octane gasoline by mixing in ethanol -- ethyl alcohol -- a non-contaminating substance produced from sugarcane.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: A Call to Protect Wetlands

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Non-governmental organizations in Argentina are proposing a "protected corridor" along the northeastern border, the country's principal source of freshwater.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Minister Replacement Criticized

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Mexico announced a swap in the post of environment minister Sep. 2, winning condemnation from environmental groups.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: 5,000 Trees Planted

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Some 5,000 trees were planted in the first month of a reforestation campaign carried out by residents of the southern Honduran community of Orocuina, in the highly desertified Choluteca department.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Marine Park Clean-Up

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Costa Rican citizens are joining a global environmental campaign by cleaning up the National Whale Marine Park, on the Pacific coast, where tourism has taken its toll, says the United Nations Environment Program.

Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR:: Waste Treatment Plan Underway

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Lawmakers, environmental authorities and municipal officials in El Salvador have set up a commission to draft a plan for sanitary landfills

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Mining Companies Rejected

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Officials and residents in seven of the nine municipalities in the southern Honduran department of Valle have joined forces to reject the presence of foreign mining companies because of the environmental destruction they cause.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA:: Mayan Juridical System Revealed

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The recently published "Global View of the Mayan Juridical System" consolidates the principles and values of the millenniums-old Mayan culture, says Santos Mendoza, leader of the Waqxaqi'Noj Indigenous Defense Office.
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