The results of Argentina’s first official inventory of its native forests, while not surprising, clearly qualify as worrisome. The inventory, made public last month by Argentina’s Environment Secretariat, shows native forests covering 82,014,485 acres (33,190,442 hectares), just 12% of the country. Compared to a forest census conducted in 1914, it indicates the nation’s native forests shrunk by more than two thirds in the 20th century. The World Bank-financed inventory was conducted for the Argentine Environment Secretariat by a consortium of local and Canadian companies using satellite images and surveys in the field. It marks the first time Argentina has carried out such a project using modern data-collection methods. Previous efforts have relied on estimates and information supplied by landholders. The country’s first forest...
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Tayrona Park, Colombia’s busiest national park, has become the country’s first park to run on renewable energy. Last month it inaugurated a solar plant to power its cabins, restaurants, museums and visitor centers. Donated by India’s state-owned Central Electronics Limited (CEL), the $200,000, 2.4-megawatt plant replaces a diesel facility and marks what Colombian officials hope will be the first step toward renewable-energy use in all 49 of the country’s national parks. “Solar, wind and hydro plants provide energy for isolated preserves, save money and serve an educational purpose by exposing our guests to a clean, alternative form of energy,” says Emilio Rodríguez, deputy-director of technical affairs for the national park system. “We want our guides to discuss this energy option with...
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Ibama, Brazil’s environmental-enforcement agency, is trying to stamp out use of Chinese- and Taiwanese-made pesticides smuggled into Brazil, mainly through Paraguay. In November, Ibama inspected 261 farms in western Mato Grosso do Sul state and fined 22 farmers $250,000 for buying illegal pesticides and, in some cases, failing to dispose properly of the packaging. In December, Ibama broadened the crackdown to farms in the southern states of Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and the western state of Mato Grosso. It plans nationwide inspections this year. Ibama also has asked Brazil’s Federal Police, which monitor borders, to alert border police in Paraguay and other neighboring countries about the illegal-pesticide problem. Many of the pesticides in question are commonly used around...
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Incoming Ecuadorian Environment Minister Edgar Isch López plans to review environmental licenses granted for projects including the highly controversial Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP) being built to help boost Ecuador’s Amazon-area oil production. Picked by President-elect Lucio Gutiérrez, a left-leaning populist, Isch was slated to take office with the rest of the new administration on Jan. 15. He replaces Lourdes Luque, who has drawn criticism from Ecuadorian green advocates for allegedly being too quick to approve projects in the areas of shrimp farming, palm cultivation and pipeline construction. The OCP, which would give Ecuador its second major conduit for Amazon crude, is now 80% complete and scheduled to start up by July. It has drawn intense criticism from local and international green...
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Guatemala’s Environment and Natural Resources Ministry (Marn) this month filed a criminal complaint against Las Vacas River Hydroelectric, a private power company, temporarily suspending its operations. The Jan. 6 move came days after sewage-tainted water released from the company’s dam allegedly caused massive fish die-offs in the Motagua, Guatemala’s longest river. The release of the fetid, dark gray water affected two-thirds of the Motagua, which flows from the country’s western highlands to the Caribbean. No epidemics were reported as of early January, though some people were said to have fallen ill after eating fish and shellfish. Officials could not immediately say how much contaminated water had been released. The Las Vacas hydropower complex lies just outside Guatemala City on the Las Vacas...
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