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Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Sales of Oxygen to Netherlands
The Guatemalan government is negotiating an agreement for the sale of oxygen to the Netherlands, giving the European country a larger quota for the emission of greenhouse gases and the Central American nation resources to preserve its natural wealth.Alternative Energy – Still a Distant Dream
Latin America is far from meeting the target of obtaining 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2010, the proposal it will set forth at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa.Iguanas Dying En Masse in Galapagos
A second oil spill is threatening Ecuador's Galapagos islands, while the mortality rate among its marine iguanas has risen alarmingly, blamed on an earlier spill in 2001.
A Cup of Tea
Tea is a plant of Chinese origin which gave rise to the most widely consumed beverage in the world, from the far East to Latin America. It was first consumed by human beings nearly 5,000 years ago.Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Endangered Grasslands
Around 75 percent of Argentina's topsoil has been depleted by desertification and damaging farming and grazing methods, warns the Secretariat on the Environment and Natural Resources.Ecobreves – PERU: Mining Companies to Pay for Environmental Damage
The mining companies operating in Peru must invest more than one billion dollars up to 2006 to mitigate the environmental damages caused by their activities, said the Ministry of Energy and Mines.Ecobreves – MEXICO:: Unpredictable Climate
Weather reports in Mexico are based on technology that dates back 15 years, which makes reliable forecasts, which are essential to farmers, impossible. The country's meteorological stations have only one person to collect the data, which ends up in card catalogues after passing through outdated telegraph and mail systems, said researcher Norma Sánchez at the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico.Ecobreves – PANAMA: Marine Laboratory Under Construction
Construction will be completed this year on the marine laboratory of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) on the Panamanian archipelago of Bocas del Toro, in the Caribbean sea.Ecobreves – EL SALVADOR: Expanding the Number of Protected Areas
The Environment Ministry of El Salvador will declare the "San Benito" zone located in the El Imposible national park, one of the country's most valuable mountainous tropical forest regions, a protected area.
Uniting Trees with Trees
The Meso-American Biological Corridor is an attempt to restore the chain of forests that until relatively recently connected South and North America.The Future of the Mangrove
A Caribbean community in Colombia is attempting to utilize the mangrove forest in a sustainable way in order to counteract the threat of deforestation.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Amazonian Surveillance Begins
The Surveillance System of the Amazon (SIVAM) is slated to start operating – at least in part - July 25, when the project’s main center in the northwestern Brazilian city of Manaos is to be inaugurated.Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Investment in Water Services
Costa Rica must invest 1.6 billion dollars to modernize its potable water and sanitation services, according to a recent study by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO).Ecobreves – CUBA: Accord with Guatemala
Cuba and Guatemala will now be able to develop joint projects for natural resources management and protection under a new environmental agreement signed by the two governments.Ecobreves – CHILE: 120 Million Trees
Each year, 120 million trees are planted in Chile, a reforestation pace that surpasses the rate of logging, say government officials.Ecobreves – CENTRAL AMERICA:: Green Troops
In the countries of Central America, 170,000 police and military troops will receive training to protect natural resources and nature preserves in the region.Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Justice Halts Forest Exploitation
The Guatemalan Constitutional Court put a 15-day halt on the transfer of a portion of the protected Sierra de las Minas to a logging company.Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: More and More Bicycles
Bicycle use in the Argentine capital rose 51 percent in the last year as a result of the country's profound economic crisis, according to a study by the Association of Bicycle Riders.Ecobreves – MEXICO: War against Red Tide
- The Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico is ready to study the micro-algae that cause "red tide", an unpredictable phenomenon that causes fish kills and can make people ill who consume seafood coming from affected areas.Ecobreves – PERU: Climate in the Past
Scientists at the University of Piura, a northwestern department of Peru, are studying the climate conditions of the past using the rings in the cross sections of trees found in the regions arid forests.
Water Not for Everyone
Nearly 30 percent of the people in Latin America do not have access to potable water and sanitation, in spite of a wave of reforms and privatizations in that arena.« 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.
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