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Sunday, November 1, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Biodiesel from Soy Dregs
Soybean oil dregs can be turned into a useful biofuel, according to research going on at Brazil's University of São Paulo.Ecobreves – CHILE: Ecologists Celebrate Center for Renewable Energies
The Chilean government of Michelle Bachelet last week inaugurated the Center for Renewable Energies (CER), specializing in research, development and promotion of unconventional sources, like solar, wind, geothermal and wave motion.Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Crops Grow in Former Garbage Dump
Community groups and Venezuela's Ministry of Environment planted 4,000 vetiver grass shoots (Vetiveria zizanioides) on the slopes of the Ojo de Agua terraces, a former sanitary landfill west of the capital.Ecobreves – CUBA: Art Emerges from Garbage
The Ecological Processing Center for Urban Waste (CEPRU), in the far eastern Cuban city of Guantánamo, will open the doors before year's end on its open-air art gallery. The premise? Garbage also holds cultural riches.
Biological Remedy for Sickened Soil
Biological remediation costs 80 to 150 dollars per cubic meter of soil in Mexico, where such methods are increasingly studied and applied to clean up contaminated land.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Incentives for Organic Farming
The Honduran Secretariat (ministry) of Agriculture and Livestock is using a new regulation to promote organic crops among some 60 non-governmental organizations that group 1,800 small and medium farmers.
El Niño Taming the Hurricanes
The arrival of El Niño is good news -- for now -- in the countries of the Americas located in the hurricane zone, including Cuba.
ENVIRONMENT: New Maritime Rules Target Oil Spills in Antarctica
The ships that bring thousands of tourists to Antarctica to take in some of the most pristine landscapes in the world will have to adapt to new marine environmental standards, which could be stricter than those requested by the members of the Antarctic Treaty.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Fruitful Irrigation with Sewer Water
Urban household sewer water, processed to remove solid waste and some of the organic matter, is being used in Brazil as a fertilizer that boost sugarcane yields 50 percent.Ecobreves – GLOBAL: Mammals in Danger
Twenty-five percent of the world's mammal species are in danger as a result of agricultural expansion, hunting and the introduction of exotic species, according to a meeting of experts from 50 countries last week in Argentina.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Dredging to Fight Floods
The municipal government of Tegucigalpa last week launched an intense campaign to dredge rivers and ravines and to clean up the city - all to reduce vulnerability to flooding in some 135 neighborhoods considered at risk.
New Maritime Rules Target Oil Spills in Antarctica
A new international regulation aims to prevent oil spills in Antarctic waters from causing environmental disasters.
The Environmental Fight Starts in Your Neighborhood
Chilean neighborhoods are making progress - on a human scale and at a human pace - towards environmentally sustainable communities.
TOURISM-COSTA RICA: Much More Than a Walk in the Countryside
Some 3,000 people make their living from rural community-based tourism in Costa Rica, according to the association of tour operators who connect visitors to the delights of rural life.
Q&A: Recipes for Food Sovereignty
In 1975, Brazilian nutritionist and paediatrician Clara Brandão introduced "multimixture" in the diet of 13 preschools in Santarém, in the northern state of Pará, and noted how the malnourished children gained weight and completed their schooling. Some even went on to university.
Recipes for Food Sovereignty
There are no strong or weak foods, only complementary foods, proclaims Brazilian expert Clara Brandão, promoter of a unique approach to nourishment.
Much More Than a Walk in the Countryside
Costa Rican tourism is incorporating rural community-based vacations as the fourth leg of an industry otherwise centered on beaches, ecotourism and adventure travel.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Seized Lumber Sold to Compensate Jobless
Brazil's ministries of Environment and Social Development will compensate workers who lost their jobs due to shutdowns of illegal charcoal factories and logging companies. They will be paid with revenues from sales of the seized lumber.Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Polluting Pig Farms Shut Down
The 43 pig farms that still operate in the Lake Valencia watershed in northern Venezuela will have to stop soon and retool for some other activity or move to a different site - in order to reverse contamination caused by the livestock waste.Ecobreves – CUBA: Cane-Based Fertilizer Improves Yields
The bio-fertilizer Fitomás-E, a sugarcane derivative that Cuba began producing this year, boosts yields of several types of crops and improves soils, according to officials from the farm sector.Ecobreves – CHILE: Progress on Standards for Limiting Air Pollution
The Chilean government revealed the main characteristics of its bill for regulating the concentration of particulate matter in the air, with a diameter of less than 2.4 micrometers (one-millionth of a meter), the most harmful to human health.« 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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