Tierramerica

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Purified Water, No Energy Wasted

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A technique developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo's school of agriculture could help Brazilians obtain purified water at low cost and using less energy.
Will the frustrations of the Copenhagen Climate Summit be repeated in Cancún? - Ana Libisch/IPS

Latin America and Europe Set Sights on Next Climate Summit

By - - and Tito Drago
Sustainable development actions are bringing Latin American and European countries together in agreements that activists are criticizing due to their "market-based profile."

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Ex-Foreign Minister Accused of Environmental Crime

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Honduran justice authorities are investigating former foreign minister and retired colonel César Elvir Sierra for the destruction of more than 1,000 pine trees in La Tigra mountain nature reserve, the main "lungs" of the nation's capital.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Massive Bird Die-Off

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The deaths of some 700 sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) along the cost of Cobquecura, 434 kilometers south of the Chilean capital, has prompted the authorities to open a legal investigation.
ENERSA workers making photovoltaic cells Credit: Courtesy of Richard J. Komp

ENERGY: The Sun Lights Up the Night in Haiti

By Peter Costantini
There are shortages of lots of things in Haiti: clean water, arable land, trees, living-wage jobs, housing, schools, fuel, reliable sources of electricity and Internet access. But one thing Haiti has in abundance is sunny days.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: A Seal for Timber Certification

By - - and IPS Correspondents
As of this month, Argentina has its own forestry certification seal that ensures the sustainable management of its forests - native or planted - and proper handling of the tree from harvest to the final product.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Criticism for Website on Air Quality

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The launch of a webpage (http://proyectos.aequum.org/proaire/) to collect citizen proposal to improve air quality in the Mexico City metropolitan area has left some environmentalists doubtful.
ENERSA workers making photovoltaic cells. - Courtesy of Richard J. Komp

The Sun Lights Up the Night in Haiti

By - - and Peter Costantini
Photovoltaic panels are gradually appearing in Haiti, alongside streetlights, in a demonstration of what the Sun can do in a country with severe energy problems.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Environmental Law Reform Begins

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Honduran ecologists, archeologists and architects are debating in Parliament the reforms to the General Law on Environment, dating back to 1993, in order to adapt it to the new realities of climate change, deforestation and housing construction.
The scarlet macaw is one of many species needing protection from traffickers. Credit: Courtesy of CONAP of Guatemala

Guatemalan Wildlife at the Mercy of Traffickers

By Danilo Valladares
The shortage of resources for law enforcement and high demand from the wealthy countries of the North have left the field wide open in Guatemala for trafficking of wild animals, many of which are endangered, warn experts and environmentalists.
Shacks in the Rocinha slum. Credit: Frayssinet/IPS

BRAZIL: Eviction from Rio’s Slums Echoes Dark Past

By Fabiana Frayssinet
The longstanding debate between eviction or upgrading of Rio's "favelas" or slums has gathered new force as this one-time capital of Brazil still shows the hillside scars left by rain-induced landslides in early April.
Mangroves on Mexico's Atlantic coast. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPS

BIODIVERSITY: We Can Live Without Oil, But Not Without Flora and Fauna

By Stephen Leahy
The policies and deals that contributed to the massive oil spill under way in the Gulf of Mexico are also jeopardising the Earth's vital biological infrastructure, according to the Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, published Monday.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: When the Internet Saves Energy

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A new Internet-based control system developed in Brazil allows greater energy efficiency in public buildings, homes and machinery.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Food Aid Arrives

By - - and IPS Correspondents
The drought that affects some 150,000 people in six of the 18 departments in Honduras has led to stepping up aid with the support of the World Food Program, Lisandro Rosales, coordinator of the government's Permanent Contingency Committee, told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Seeds to Restore Burned Forests

By - - and IPS Correspondents
A government program for tree seedbeds, with community participation, began last week in Mochima National Park and the coast and islets of northern Venezuela.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Simple Device to Economize Electricity

By - - and IPS Correspondents
Cuba has begun producing devices made from clay to be placed in household electric ovens to help save energy, company officials from the factory in the coastal municipality of Gibara told Tierramérica.
Mangroves on Mexico's Atlantic coast. - Mauricio Ramos/IPS

We Can Live Without Oil, But Not Without Flora and Fauna

By - - and Stephen Leahy
The latest global study on biodiversity outlines what could be "the sixth great extinction event of life on Earth" and predicts the tipping point of the Amazon rainforest's transformation into savanna.
Precarious houses on the hillside of the Rocinha slum. - Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS

Forced Eviction from Rio's Slums Echoes Dark Past

By - - and Fabiana Frayssinet
The tragic landslides this year in the steep hills of Rio de Janeiro brought to light an official plan to relocated impoverished neighborhoods - a move that experts criticize for failing to consult the residents affected, and for being authoritarian and ineffective.
Computer model of the E-ELT telescope. Credit: Courtesy of the European Southern Observatory

ASTRONOMY: Big Southern Eye in Search of Extraterrestrial Life

By Daniela Estrada
The construction of the world's largest telescope in the northern region of Antofagasta could make Chile an international leader in astronomy research and provide a launch pad for developing other scientific disciplines.
Zoological Foundation of Ecuador staff examine an Andean condor. Credit: Courtesy of FZE

ECUADOR: Saving the Condor – A Mission Possible

By Gonzalo Ortiz
Indiscriminate hunting and ecological changes in the Andean highlands have dramatically reduced the condor population in Ecuador. Experts say there are likely no more than 50 of these large birds of prey in this country. A century ago their numbers were in the thousands.
Pine plantation near Manizales, Colombia. Credit: Sandra Sguerra/Proyecto Procuenca

CLIMATE CHANGE: Colombian Forest Project Reaps Credits… and Criticism

By Stephen Leahy
The "Procuenca Initiative" in the Andes region of western Colombia may be the first in the world to sell certified forest carbon credits with a biodiversity protection component. But alarms are sounding about the potential negative social and environmental consequences.
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