Tierramerica
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Swallows Arrive in European Winter

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Many bird species are migrating early to Europe from Africa. Ornithologists believe climate change is the cause behind the new travel habits of swallows, ducks, storks and geese, and could be a threat to their reproductive cycles.
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Colombia's Bid to Save Its National Flower

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The cattleya trianae orchid is in danger of extinction. But using both traditional and modern techniques, experts are fighting to keep this emblematic flower from disappearing.

Free Zone for Paraquat

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Paraquat is used without restrictions in Central America, where the herbicide is believed to cause some 400,000 poisonings each year. Each country of the region spends an estimated seven million dollars annually on medical treatment for those affected.

Ecobreves – MERCOSUR: Invasion of the Golden Mussel

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Brazil announced an emergency plan to fight the invasion of the golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei), a plague throughout the entire Rio de la Plata river basin. Brasilia has asked its Mercosur (Southern Common Market) partners, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, to join in controlling invasive aquatic species.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Forest Coverage Expands

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Cuba increased the portion of its territory covered in forests from 13.4 to 23 percent through a strategy that incorporated the creation of forestry farms. Official figures show that forests today hold more than 130 million cubic meters of usable lumber and have potential to grow 7.5 million cubic meters annually.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Once Parched, Now Flooded

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Yearned for during months of intense drought, Venezuela's rainy season, which normally lasts from May to October, has arrived -- and in a most frightening way.

Ecobreves – SOUTH AMERICA: Lawmakers and Activists for Renewable Energy

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Members of the Latin American Parliament and leaders of civil society organizations gathered in the Chilean capital to promote development in South America of public policies that incorporate renewable and sustainable sources into the energy matrix.
- Mauricio Ramos.

Clean Water Access Far Short of Millennium Goal

By Haider Rizvi and - -
Two years after the World Summit on Sustainable Development, progress in access to water and sanitation is alarmingly slow, say experts. It would take double the current expenditures of 16 billion dollars a year to halve the population lacking access to clean water by 2015.

Ecobreves – ITALY: Condemnation of Canadian Seal Hunt

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The expansion of the seal hunt in Canada is "unacceptable" and Italy's lawmakers are asking the government to take action against it, as have the United States and Belgium, Valerio Calzolaio, secretary of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, told Tierramérica.
Ian Johnson. -

Investment in Development Is a 'Moral Duty'

By Haider Rizvi and - -
The World Bank's environmental and social requirements for approval of infrastructure projects are among the strictest in the world, says Ian Johnson, the institution's vice-president for sustainable development.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Priest to Lead March for Life, Environment

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Roman Catholic priest Andrés Tamayo, an environmental activist, is preparing to lead the Jun. 24 "National March for Life" in Honduras, aimed at forcing the government to take steps against deforestation and unregulated mining.

Impossible to Cut Hunger in Half by 2015

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization realizes that it will not be able to meet the 2015 goal of relieving half of the 54.8 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean from the hunger they suffer. Between 1990 and 2000, public sector resources for development assistance have fallen off 50 percent, FAO director-general Jacques Diouf told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Effort Against Unsustainable Lobster Fishing

By IPS Correspondents and - -
International experts are meeting Apr. 26 to 28 in Panama to discuss strategies to halt the unregulated catches of spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) in Central America.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Claims Against Shell Continue

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Claims against the Shell oil company continue despite the fact that the company last week paid 600,000 dollars to 40 Argentine families to withdraw the lawsuits related to the oil spill along the coast of Magdalena, in Buenos Aires province.
Young South American river turtles make their way to the Orinoco -

Endangered Young Turtles Take to the Water

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Venezuela has broken a wildlife conservation record: in 15 years it has produced and protected 168,000 South American river turtle hatchlings. Under the supervision of experts, year-old members of this endangered freshwater species each April make their way to their permanent home, the Orinoco River.
Coffee plantation workers in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. - Mauricio Ramos

Desertion of Coffee Plantations Hurts Ecosystems

By IPS Correspondents and - -
In El Salvador and Honduras, some 20,000 hectares of coffee plantations have disappeared. Their carbon-fixing function is crucial in mitigating climate change. In Nicaragua, the desertion of coffee agriculture has cost 122,000 jobs and created a food crisis in the department of Matagalpa.

Ecobreves – PERU: Creating a 'Green' Ministry

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Peruvian Congress will establish an Environment Ministry and an Environmental Prosecutor's Office in August, announced lawmaker Fabiola Morales on Apr. 16.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Demands to Maintain Logging Ban

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Paraná Ecologist Forum this month filed a claim to prevent the annulment of an emergency environmental decree that bans logging of native forests and riverside jungles in the northeast Argentine province of Entre Ríos, home to 21 percent of the country's plant species.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Support for Certification of Eco-Agriculture

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Colombia's Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development, through the National Plan for Green Markets, on Apr. 19 began the second round for co-financing for "green certification" -- an effort to consolidate ecologically sound farming.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Off to Fight Fires!

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Twenty-five brigades of specialized firefighters were established in April by the National Forests Institute (INAB) to confront the wave of fires that affect Guatemala's forests each summer.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: UNEP Inaugurates Office

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The United Nations Environment Program, UNEP, inaugurated its first office in the Brazilian capital in mid-April. The aim is to take advantage of Brazil's environmental experience to benefit the rest of Latin America and the Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa.
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