Languages
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR: No Garbage in the Gulf!
The residents of the Salvadoran islands of Conchaguita and Zacatillo, in the Pacific Ocean, are the focus of a government plan to halt the dumping of solid waste into the sea, and to value the natural wealth of the Gulf of Fonseca.Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Land in the Hands of Men
Around 82 percent of the private individual landowners in Nicaragua are men, with the remaining land belonging to women, according to the National Agricultural Census recently released by the government.
War Games Are Deadly in Vieques
Contaminated soil, the thunder of bombs dropped during U.S. military exercises and the specter of cancer disturb the dreams of the 9,400 people on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: IUCN Presents New Web Site
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has created a new Internet site dedicated to promoting the incorporation of a gender focus in all sustainable development projects.Ecobreves – REGION: Evaluating Ozone Protocol Compliance
Experts from Latin America and the Caribbean are meeting in the Chilean capital to assess the region's progress in eliminating the production and use of substances that deplete the Earth's atmospheric ozone layer.
Weapons Also Pollute
While the United States continues its global crusade against terrorism, civil society groups warn about the environmental impacts of armamentism, which is costing the world around 900 billion dollars a year.
Rigoberta Menchú: “We will demand an explanation from the UN”
We will demand that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan account for the exclusion of indigenous peoples from the agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú told Tierramérica.Palm Hearts Replace Coca Bush
Colombian peasant farmers abandon their illegal drug crops and instead plant a legal and lucrative alternative on 350 hectares in Putumayo department.
Disarmament
Disarmament campaigns are almost always identified with the objective of peace. But there is another argument for working to reduce weapons worldwide: the nearly 900 billion dollars spent every year on weapons and arms research mean fewer resources are available for sustainable development, and thus threaten the environment.Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Adopt-A-Shark
A science foundation is proposing the "adoption" of sharks as a way to raise funds for research and environmental management aimed at benefiting this fish species in Venezuela's Los Roques archipelago, one of the most important shark habitats in the Caribbean.Ecobreves – CHILE:: Business Invests in Environment
From March to August of this year, private companies in Chile in the mining, sanitation, energy and grape/wine industries, spent 60 million dollars on developing "clean production", a sum authorities said was unprecedented.
Water: The Only Jewel in the Summit's Crown
One of the few achievements of the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development, the promise to halve the population without water and sanitation by 2015, could slip between the fingers of the poor due to privatization efforts, warn activists.
“The Stream Has Dried Up”
"Nature is for us to experience and enjoy," renowned Cuban troubadour Compay Segundo told Tierramérica. With his 95 years of experience, he says that we must take care of the planet.Disappointing End to Rio+10
Amid the jeers and boos of activists and the complacency of government officials, the Rio+10 Summit concluded with an action plan that includes very few commitments or timelines for poverty abatement or environmental protection.Chile Tries to Mend Ozone Hole
The environmental authorities in Chile have launched an offensive to eliminate the use of pesticides containing methyl bromide, a substance that depletes the ozone layer and is harmful to human health.
After the Johannesburg Summit
The World Summit on Sustainable Development drew 104 heads of state, 9,000 delegates, 8,000 representatives of non-governmental organizations and 4,000 journalists, according to the official count. But what did the event produce?Ecobreves – PERU: Multi-Million-Dollar Effort against El Niño
Peru is investing 57 million dollars to reinforce protection of its rivers and irrigation canals in its northwestern coastal region to prevent the flooding that could be caused by El Niño, the cyclical phenomenon of a warm Pacific Ocean current that usually triggers extreme weather around the globe.Ecobreves – MEXICO: Fungus Threatens 100-Year-Old Trees
Mexican experts are assessing treatments for fighting an infestation that attacks the 'parotas' (Enterolobium ciclocarpum), trees that live over a hundred years, in the western state of Colima.Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Care for Forests Instead of Growing Drugs
The government of Colombia, a country that is a world leader in the production of illegal narcotics, is shifting its strategy away from crop substitution towards income substitution for peasant farmers who commit to taking care of forests and preserving the environment instead of growing coca, the raw material for cocaine, or poppies, used to produce heroin.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Capital to Begin Water Treatment
The Honduran government will begin construction next year on the first wastewater treatment station in the nation's capital, one of the most polluted cities in Central America.
Johannesburg – Notes & Quotes
The most expensive summit… Logistical nightmare… The least expensive city… All nations of the world, except for five… 2,000 accredited journalists… And words heard during the Johannesburg Summit« Previous Page — Next Page »
Tierramérica is the main communications platform on sustainable development and the environment in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is produced by IPS Noticias, the agency’s Spanish-language service, which created it jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with later support from the World Bank. The weekly editions of Tierramérica are published in Spanish, Portuguese and English and are picked up and printed by dozens of media outlets in the region. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
From the Frontline of Environment
Supported by
Tierramérica en Español
Terramérica em Portuguese
