Oil find in Darién worries Panama’s green groups

September 2011

Region

Region not hopeful about Durban climate meeting

For much of the last decade, Latin America has eagerly embraced the promise of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The United Nations agreement, under which developed ......

Mexico

Fish stocks grow dramatically in Mexican reserve

A new study of Cabo Pulmo National Park in the Gulf of California shows the number and size of fish have increased dramatically in the ......

Argentina

China to finance Patagonian farming push

A Chinese food conglomerate plans to lend US$1.5 billion for the development of farming operations on 330,000 hectares (815,000 acres) in Argentine Patagonia on condition ......

Brazil

Agrochemical repackaging probed in Brazil

Food-safety authorities have launched regulatory action against two agrochemical makers here, Germany-based BASF and Brazil’s Servatis Agro & Fine Chemicals, drawing a rebuke from four ......

Nicaragua (Free Read)

Nicaragua wants to restart cotton industry

In the 1960s and 70s, Nicaragua’s economic motor—cotton—also caused some of its most vexing environmental problems. Rivers and soils were heavily polluted with agrochemicals, and ......

Around the Region

Oil find in Darién worries Panama’s green groups

To the dismay of environmentalists, Panama has discovered an estimated 900 million barrels in oil reserves in Darién Province near its border with Colombia and ......

Centerpiece

Chilean isle serves as lab for grad students

Long ago, as the Yaghán indigenous people tell it, a devastating drought struck the land at the bottom of the world, and birds began to ......

Q&A

Rio 92 organizer rues lack of environmental progress

In June 2012 Brazil will host the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Earth Summit 2012. The session is known as Rio+20 since it will ......

Oil find in Darién worries Panama’s green groups

To the dismay of environmentalists, Panama has discovered an estimated 900 million barrels in oil reserves in Darién Province near its border with Colombia and plans to open up bidding to international firms for further exploration by the end of the year. Panama’s Ministry of Trade and Industry announced Sept. 13 that it would move soon to exploit the oil find, confirmed in July and estimated by the government to be worth US$15 billion in taxes and royalties over the next 20 years. But the announcement has raised intense concerns among environmentalists, who point to the fragility of the Darién region, with its hundreds of species of birds and mammals, tens of thousands of Afro-Panamanian and Indian inhabitants and rich rainforests and wetlands... [Log in to read more]

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September 2011

Region

Region not hopeful about Durban climate meeting

For much of the last decade, Latin America has eagerly embraced the promise of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The United Nations agreement, under which developed ......

Mexico

Fish stocks grow dramatically in Mexican reserve

A new study of Cabo Pulmo National Park in the Gulf of California shows the number and size of fish have increased dramatically in the ......

Argentina

China to finance Patagonian farming push

A Chinese food conglomerate plans to lend US$1.5 billion for the development of farming operations on 330,000 hectares (815,000 acres) in Argentine Patagonia on condition ......

Brazil

Agrochemical repackaging probed in Brazil

Food-safety authorities have launched regulatory action against two agrochemical makers here, Germany-based BASF and Brazil’s Servatis Agro & Fine Chemicals, drawing a rebuke from four ......

Nicaragua (Free Read)

Nicaragua wants to restart cotton industry

In the 1960s and 70s, Nicaragua’s economic motor—cotton—also caused some of its most vexing environmental problems. Rivers and soils were heavily polluted with agrochemicals, and ......

Around the Region

Oil find in Darién worries Panama’s green groups

To the dismay of environmentalists, Panama has discovered an estimated 900 million barrels in oil reserves in Darién Province near its border with Colombia and ......

Centerpiece

Chilean isle serves as lab for grad students

Long ago, as the Yaghán indigenous people tell it, a devastating drought struck the land at the bottom of the world, and birds began to ......

Q&A

Rio 92 organizer rues lack of environmental progress

In June 2012 Brazil will host the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Earth Summit 2012. The session is known as Rio+20 since it will ......