Tierramerica
Farmers plant African palm in the northern Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. Credit: Laura Hurtado, Courtesy of ActionAid Guatemala

Agro-Fuel Debate Takes Root in Central America

By Danilo Valladares
The debate is growing in Central America over the scope of industrial crops in forested areas or subsistence farming zones, and their impact on the source of food for the rural population.
Juan Pablo Sáenz, one of the five Ecuadorean attorneys who won the case against Chevron. Credit: Gonzalo Ortiz/IPS

Q&A: “The Verdict Against Chevron Is Enforceable, Because It Is Just”

By Gonzalo Ortiz
On Feb. 14, a provincial Ecuadorean court issued the harshest environmental verdict in history against a major oil company, the U.S.-based Chevron. But is there any chance it will be carried out?
Juan Pablo Sáenz, one of the five Ecuadorean attorneys who won the case against Chevron - Gonzalo Ortiz/IPS

“The Verdict Against Chevron Is Enforceable, Because It Is Just”

By Gonzalo Ortiz and - -
"Many people said that an Ecuadorean court would never rule against a big transnational corporation," Juan Pablo Sáenz told Tierramérica. He is the youngest on the Ecuadorean prosecuting team against Chevron in the environmental case of the century.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: From Coffee Dregs to Biofuel

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Coffee dregs can be used to produce biodiesel. That is the result of an experiment of the Polytechnic School's chemical engineering department at the University of São Paulo.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: The Monarch Returns

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The population of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and the forest area it occupies in Mexico grew last year in comparison to 2009, according to reports from various organizations.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Greater Local Autonomy for Environmental Management

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Honduras will promote the autonomy of local governments in environmental management, putting administrative tasks in their hands, like authorizing minor construction permits and charging specific taxes.
Yandi Condado shows off the Cacaloxúchitl cooperative's peanut products. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS

MEXICO: Peanuts in Times of Food Crisis

By Emilio Godoy
Yandi Condado and a small group of farmers in the southern Mexican state of Puebla decided a few years ago to process their peanuts as an economic boost -- and to defend this traditional crop against the advances of more profitable options.
Men's heavier reliance on cars is reflected in traffic jams like this one near Aachen, Germany. Credit: Immanuel Giel/Public domain

CLIMATE CHANGE: In Europe, Pollution Is a Masculine Noun

By Julio Godoy
Many aspects of gender inequality are well known and well documented. But there seems to be little awareness that male behaviour leads to greater emissions of climate-changing gases.
Men's heavy reliance on cars cause traffic jams like this one near Aachen, Germany - Immanuel Giel/Public domain

Pollution Is a Masculine Noun

By Julio Godoy and - -
Poor eating habits and inefficient use of transportation mean men are responsible for more emissions of climate-changing carbon dioxide than women are.
Yandi Condado shows off the peanut products of the Cacaloxúchitl cooperative - Emilio Godoy/IPS

Peanuts in Times of Food Crisis

By Emilio Godoy and - -
A rural cooperative in southern Mexico aims to revive the peanut, a crop whose nutritional value provides a weapon against hunger.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Falling Short in Preserving Atlantic Biome

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Just two of the 51 conservation objectives for Brazil's Mata Atlântica forest have been met, says a study by the Brazilian chapter of Word Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: UNESCO Urges More Protection for the Río Plátano Biosphere

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A technical team from UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) sent a recommendation to the Honduran government to improve protection of the Río Plátano Biosphere, which extends through three of the country's 18 departments.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Freshwater Dolphins Victims of Polluted Water

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Two of the five freshwater dolphins, known here as "toninas" (Inia geoffrensis), in the aquarium of Valencia, west of Caracas, died this month as a result of illnesses caused by poor water quality, said Adelio Valente, of the Friends of the Toninas Movement.
Asparagus is one of the most water-consuming crops. Credit: Ryan Freisling/Public domain

Water Evaporates in Peru’s For-Export Crops

By Milagros Salazar
As freshwater disappears from the super-populated Peruvian coast, the most water-intensive crops are expanding unabated as highly profitable exports. Observers warn about the harm this is causing and demand greater responsibility from the government and all involved.
A cenote, or sinkhole, in the Mexican Caribbean. Credit: Jim Conrad/Public Domain

Tourism Is Poisoning the Mexican Caribbean

By Stephen Leahy
The booming tourist industry along Mexico's Caribbean coast, particularly in the area of Cancún and the "Riviera Maya," is polluting the world's largest underwater cave system and harming the world's second largest coral reef, a new study has found.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: A Call for Transparency in Forest Projects

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental groups are demanding transparency in the drafting and execution of Mexico's strategy for the United Nations-sponsored REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Clean Energy from Garbage

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The municipal government of Puerto Cortés, on the northern Honduran coast, aims to become a "green municipality" through a nine-million-dollar project that would recycle garbage to generate 2.5 megawatts of electricity in the area.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Camera-Monitored Fishing Will Have to Wait

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmentalists are criticizing the extension that the Argentine government has granted before the launch of an on-board video monitoring system for fishing in the South Atlantic.
Processing agave nectar boosts incomes of indigenous people in San Andrés Daboxtha. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS

MEXICO: Agave Sweetens Economic Prospects of Indigenous Women

By Emilio Godoy
With a wooden spoon in hand, Hortencia Rómulo briskly stirs the amber-coloured liquid cooking in an enormous steel pot.
A portion of river and forests in Peru's Cuzco region that will be flooded by the Inambari dam. Credit: Milagros Salazar/IPS

China and Brazil Inundate Latin America with Dams

By Mario Osava
The growing presence of Chinese and Brazilian capital in Latin America's energy sector is facilitating the construction of hydroelectric complexes, but is also the fuelling nationalist stances that are adding to the environmental criticisms of those major projects.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Fighting the Ashen Moth

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Researchers at the Central University of Venezuela are proposing to develop the Beauveria Bassiania fungus in mangroves on the Paria Peninsula and other region in the country's northeast as a biological agent to control an onslaught of the ashen moth (Hylesia metabus).
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