Tierramerica

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Money Available for Eco-Projects

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The "Fondo para las Américas" (Fund for the Americas), created in 1993 by Argentina and the United States, launched a new call for applications to finance projects of non-governmental organizations here that work on environmental and children's issues.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Green Energy as Source of Jobs

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The development of eco-friendly energy could produce 500,000 jobs in Mexico, according to the environmental watchdog group Greenpeace.
The differences between some species are imperceptible to the human eye. Credit: Public domain

BIODIVERSITY: Plants Finally Get DNA Barcodes

By Stephen Leahy
Advances made in genetic profiling could be used to fight illegal timber trading, provide authentication of herbal medicines and map entire food chains, according to experts at a conference of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
The differences between some species are imperceptible to the human eye. - Public domain

Plants Finally Get DNA Barcodes

By Stephen Leahy and - -
The "barcode" of the plant world, the parts of the DNA unique to flora, has been revealed, thanks to a scientific breakthrough that could revolutionize herbal medicine and improve regulations of the timber trade.
The Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreilles tribes all share the Flathead Reservation in Montana. - Wildland Recreation Program Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation

Listen to the Earth, Say Indigenous Peoples

By Valentina Martínez Valdés, IPS, and - -
The idea of "wilderness" also encompasses its opposite: urbanized, exploited or altered lands. That is why it is beyond the traditional conceptions of the world's indigenous peoples.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA Lionfish Alert: Lionfish Alert

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Venezuela fears the arrival in its Caribbean islands of the lionfish (Pterois volitans), "a voracious predator that seeks refuge in reefs and lies in wait for its prey, especially young invertebrates, lobster and fish."

Ecobreves – CUBA: Call to Reactivate Zeolite Mining

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Zeolite "would increase fertility of the organic substrata of urban farming, but currently it is not utilized due to difficulties in transporting it from the sites where it is produced," Alfredo Lino, Cuban expert in farm sciences, told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Castor Oil Used in Metallurgy

By IPS Correspondents and - -
An emulsion of castor oil can be used as a substitute for petroleum-based oils in the production of metal tools, molds and components for machines, according to a study by experts at the University of São Paulo.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Potential for Biogas in the South

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A public-private initiative found that the southern Chilean province of Valdivia has the potential to manufacture biogas, as well as biofertilizers, from organic waste produced on small farms.

ENERGY-DENMARK: Samso Island, Beyond Fantasy

By Julio Godoy
On the Danish island of Samsø, a model of energy self-sufficiency, even cow's milk helps reduce emissions of climate changing gases.
Jadson Belchior, Geraldo Magela Lima and their tiny, carbon-absorbing ceramic spheres. Credit: Courtesy of UFMG/Diogo Domingues

CLIMATE CHANGE-BRAZIL: Towards Carbon-Free Chimneys

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Scientists in Brazil are developing a technique for absorbing industry-produced carbon dioxide before it ever reaches the atmosphere. The secret lies in half-centimetre ceramic spheres.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Recycling Greenhouse Gases

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A device invented by the company Carbono Brasil and the Federal University of Santa Catarina captures carbon dioxide and methane generated by industry and turns the gases into inputs for other productive activities.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: The Reforestation of El Merendón

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Around 58 hectares of forest hit by a weevil plague will be reforested with cedar and mahogany over the next five months in El Merendón mountain range, which serves as the lungs of the northwestern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Breaking the Silence of Chagas Disease

By IPS Correspondents and - -
One hundred years after the discovery of Chagas disease, endemic in many Latin American countries, the organization Doctors Without Borders (Médicos Sin Fronteras) staged a photo exhibit in Buenos Aires, as well as informational talks and concerts to raise awareness of the disease.
Jadson Belchior, left, and Geraldo Magela Lima and their tiny, carbon-absorbing ceramic spheres. - Courtesy of UFMG/Diogo Domingues

Towards Carbon-Free Chimneys

By Fabiana Frayssinet and - -
An invention by Brazilian chemists that absorbs greenhouse gases reverses the predominating approaches to carbon dioxide reduction. Instead of attempting to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, it prevents emissions at the site of origin: the industrial chimney.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Environmental Budget Plummets

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Despite the Mexican government's statements in favor of environmental protection, the 2010 national budget sets aside only a small amount of money for it, denounced the environmental watchdog Greenpeace.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: German Power Plants Burn Amazon Coconut

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The babasú coconut (Orbignya phalerata martins), a typical palm species of the Brazilian north and northeast, will replace 17 million tons of coal Germany’s thermal power plants by 2015.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: 80 Years of Research

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Venezuelan Society of Natural Sciences, the country’s oldest non-governmental organization, one that has made the most contributions to studying Venezuela’s biodiversity, reach its 80th anniversary on Oct. 29.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Oil Spill Under Control

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran authorities were able to control a spill of 150 barrels of fuel, which affected flora and fauna in the Bay of San Lorenzo, on the Pacific coast.
A view from the island of Samsø of wind turbines in the North Sea. - Courtesy of the Samsø Energy Academy

Samsø Island, Beyond Fantasy

By Julio Godoy and - -
A small Danish island in the North Sea is experimenting with a model of energy production and consumption that could provide some answers in the fight against climate change.
The recycled "Bridge of Sighs" over a pond of treated water. Credit: Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS

BRAZIL: Five-Star Garbage

By Fabiana Frayssinet
For the past 43 years, biologists Edna and Luiz Toledo have not waited for the garbage truck to collect their trash. Their three-storey house is in fact made out of "garbage", from the floor to the roof. Items that others would see as worthless are, in their eyes, valuable raw material.
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