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Sunday, November 8, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
The Perverse Patent of the Yellow Bean
A patent for a common bean has been overturned in the United States and the move applauded as the end to a fraud, but is not likely to have much impact in Mexico, where its cultivation and consumption is limited.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Hot Weather Feeds Fires
Honduras is facing an intense heat wave that is causing an average of six forest fires per day and a dense layer of smoke that has meant the temporary closing of the main airport terminals and rescheduling of flights.Ecobreves – LATIN AMERICA: Rice Revolution Calls for Improved Varieties
The use of improved rice varieties and better cultivation practices will be at the core of a technological revolution proposed by rice growers in Latin America.Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Protest Against Biofuels
Tens of thousands of Argentines have called upon President Cristina Fernández to defend sustainability among the criteria for the production of biofuels.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Genetic Resources Debate Extended
Brazil's Environment Ministry decided for a second time to extend the period for public consultation on a bill about access to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and the distribution of related benefits.Ecobreves – CHILE: Citizens Halt Dams in Capital
The withdrawal of a project to build to hydroelectric dams on Chile's Maipo River, planned by the AES Gener company, is a "citizen triumph", according to the Maipo River Citizen Organization.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Native Plants to Clean Up Contaminated Soil
Brazil could recuperate and decontaminate soil poisoned with mercury, lead, nickel and other metals that are dangerous to human health, using native plants. The technique is known as "phytoextraction" and was developed at the University of Sao Paulo.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Funds to Preserve Environmental “Lungs”
Honduras is asking for 50 million dollars in international cooperation to preserve the Plátano River Biosphere Reserve and generate sustainable production projects for the local communities, according to official sources.Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Ávila National Park Has New Friends
Biologists, anthropologists, environmentalists, palm gatherers and volunteers last week adopted the "Caracas Manifesto for the Warairarepano", the indigenous name for the Ávila National Park.Ecobreves – CUBA: Crocs in Danger
Experts are monitoring the potential effects of climate change on the reproductive process of the Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer Cuvier), concentrated in the Ciénaga de Zapata, a wetland in the south of the western province of Matanzas.
Top-Rated Agro-Science Has Achilles Heel
Brazil achieved excellence in agricultural technology as the result of a state network of research centers that played a key role in the country's farming boom.
Food Price Inflation Threatens Children
Breast feeding, enriched foods and monitoring of children's growth are among the basic weapons for fighting a potential new wave of childhood malnutrition in Latin America, say experts.
Climate Danger Lurks for Cuban Wetland
Residents of the Cuban wetland Ciénaga de Zapata face the challenge of changing an apparent inevitability: the disappearance of the marsh as a result of global warming.
Indians Speak Out Against Carbon Markets
Indigenous leaders from around the world oppose profit mechanisms for fighting climate change.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: New Malaria Medication
Brazil has a new, more efficient medication against malaria, ASMQ, which will be available at cost (2.5 dollars per dose) for Latin American and Asian countries.Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Recycled Plastic for Food Containers
Argentina's National Industrial Technology Institute (INTI) has approved a technique for manufacturing food containers from recycled plastic bottles.Ecobreves – MEXICO: Environmentalists Repudiate Electricity Project
Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission, CFE, has divided a fishing community with promises and food in the Cuyutlán lagoon, in the western state of Colima, to calm criticisms of a planned electricity plant, charge ecologists.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: March for the Forest – Again!
The third "March for Life", organized by the environmental movement led by Catholic priest Andrés Tamayo, is part of an effort to bring attention to environmental degradation in Honduras.
Saving the Potato in the Peruvian Highlands
A handful of Peruvian families are working to preserve 200 varieties of potato in the Andean highlands, where this crucial crop was domesticated eight thousand years ago.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Lumber Auction to Finance Illegal Logging
The Environment Secretariat of Pará, the largest state of Brazil's eastern Amazon, announced an unprecedented auction for May 15 of 5,500 cubic meters of illegally extracted timber. The revenues from the sale will be used to fight environmental crimes.Ecobreves – CHILE: Nuts for Biodiesel
Sometime between May 15 and 30, the first plantations of physic nut (Jatropha curcas) will be ready in Chile as part of a project for distilling biodiesel in the northern part of the country.« 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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