Tierramerica

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Toxic Cloud Over Ciudad Guayana

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A cloud of waste particulates is soaring this month over Ciudad Guayana, a city located 600 kilometers southeast of Caracas.
Perito Moreno glacier, in southern Argentina. - Public domain

Fighting for Argentina's Glaciers as They Retreat

By Marcela Valente and - -
In two decades, Argentina's glaciers have lost an average of 10 to 15 percent of their area.
When Vincent Geerts arrived from Belgium, the "Las Canoas Altas" farm was nothing but weeds and rocks. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS

MEXICO: Responsible Tourism in a Lost Rural Paradise

By Emilio Godoy
It's a mixture of volunteer work and tourism. The visitor pays to spend a few weeks in contact with nature and carry out the chores of an organic farm. The idea behind it all is to cultivate environmental awareness.
Fishers in Quintana Roo with their lobster catch. Credit: Courtesy of Equator Initiative

Mexican Fishers Throw a Lifeline to Lobsters

By Emilio Godoy
Faced with the voracious international demand for lobsters from the Mexican Pacific and Atlantic, fishers and environmental organisations have come together to institute sustainable lobstering practices -- although the financial benefits are slow in coming.
When Belgian Vincent Geerts arrived,

Responsible Tourism in a Lost Rural Paradise

By Emilio Godoy and - -
A global network of small farms is promoting organic and sustainable farming, as well as responsible consumption habits, giving a boost to a new kind of tourism.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Bio-Controls of Pests Without Extermination

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A system for controlling pests without harming the environment or even killing off the attacking species is under development by the National Institute of Science and Technology, an association of Brazilian universities.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Activists Demand Law to Protect Glaciers

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental organizations in Argentina are demanding the enactment of a law to protect the country's glaciers from large-scale mining.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Hydroelectric Dam's Reservoir Reduced

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran government decided to start controlled openings of the floodgates at the country's principal hydroelectric dam, "El Cajón," located in the northwestern department of Cortés, to prevent a worsening of floods in the wake of the intense rainfall of recent weeks.
These forests in the Cuzco area will be flooded if the Inambari dam is built. Credit: Milagros Salazar/IPS

Brazilian Dam Would Put Peruvian Jungle Under Water

By Milagros Salazar
Seen from up high, the route to Puente Inambari looks like a green serpent -- long, robust and sinuous. The Amazon jungle that dominates this landscape will be underwater if one of the largest hydroelectric dams in Peru (and all Latin America) is built.
Oil platform in the Sonda de Campeche, Mexico, a country with more than 200 rigs in the Gulf. Credit: Photostock

Environmental Forensics for BP Gulf Spill

By Adrianne Appel
Stealthy submarine gliders slide through the depths of the Gulf of Mexico with the precision of birds of prey. Robot-like rovers search for droplets of oil thousands of metres under the surface. Powerful computerised analysers send instant results to scientists on board the ship above. All of this to assess the impact of disaster.
Alligators hunted illegally in the Mamirauá nature reserve. - Juarez Pezzuti

Laws No Help to Amazon Animals, or People

By Mario Osava, IPS, and - -
Strict laws prevent Brazil's Amazon river dwellers from making use of wildlife that is otherwise destroyed by natural causes anyway, say experts.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: New Technique for Reducing Dumps

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A new garbage treatment system, developed by Ronaldo Izzo, a researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, could reduce the area covered by dumps by 75 percent. The technique consists of treating the waste and using it to make the soil of the landfill impermeable.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: University Forest Expropriated

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Venezuela's National Lands Institute confiscated the land of the Central San Nicolás University's field research station, some 1,400 hectares dedicated to agricultural studies. The institute then settled 51 rural families there.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Indigenous Groups Denounce Logging in Protected Areas

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Representatives of the Federation of Xicaques and Tolupanes Tribes denounced the illegal incursion of loggers into the forests where Honduran indigenous communities live, in the central department of Francisco Morazán and the northern department of Yoro.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: City Beaches Could Disappear

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Rising sea levels and the lack of sedimentation are leading to the disappearance of many of Brazil's beaches, according to geographer Dieter Muehe, who authored a study of the problem.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Massive Fish Die-Off

By IPS Correspondents and - -
More than four tons of dead fish - including the sábalo (Prochilodus lineatus), tararira (Hoplias malabaricus), pejerrey (Odontesthes bonariensis) and catfish - appeared last week in the reservoir of the Hondo River in northern Argentina, apparently killed by industrial pollution.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Fund for Climate Disasters in the Capital

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran Congress approved 4.5 million dollars in a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank for recovery from the damage caused by heavy rains in Tegucigalpa.
Sugarcane plantation in Brazil Credit: Courtesy EMBRAPA

ENERGY: Brazilian Biofuels Run into EU Obstacles

By Yans Felippe Geckler
Brazil has begun a counterattack on the European Union's measures for certifying crop-based fuels, which could lead to import barriers for this energy source coming from the South American giant.
Farm machinery on a Uruguayan eucalyptus plantation Credit: Courtesy of World Rainforest Movement

ENVIRONMENT: Uruguay Tries to Solve Its Forestry Puzzle

By Silvana Silveira
"A Uruguayan consumes 40 kilos of paper per year, compared to 400 kilos consumed by someone in Finland. We produce wood pulp to feed foreign consumption," says sociologist María Selva Ortiz, representative of the environmental group Redes-Friends of the Earth Uruguay.
A sugarcane plantation in Brazil - EMBRAPA

Brazilian Biofuels Run into EU Obstacles

By Yans Felippe Geckler and - -
Brazil leads the world in biofuel production, and now has to deal with European certifications that could end up creating new trade barriers.
Farm machinery on a Uruguayan eucalyptus plantation - Courtesy of WRM

Uruguay Tries to Solve Its Forestry Puzzle

By Silvana Silveira and - -
Industrial forestry is a solid productive sector in Uruguay, but activists say that its extensive monoculture plantations are harmful to water sources and soils, as well as workers.
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