In an effort to save the vaquita porpoise from extinction, the Mexican government plans to ban gillnets from the tiny marine mammals’ entire Gulf of California habitat and compensate the fishermen who live there for the loss of their catch. Draft rules outlining the ban, published Dec. 23, meet demands from conservation groups for drastic measures to save the small porpoise. But the groups warn that the government is still failing to enforce existing regulations; illegal fishing appears to be unchecked. The vaquita, which is endemic to the northern reaches of the Gulf, is threatened by illegal fishing for totoaba, an endangered fish whose swim bladder is prized by wealthy Chinese diners who mistakenly believe it has medicinal properties. The so-called “buches” fetch as...
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After deciding earlier this year not to do so, buyers and vendors of Brazilian soybeans have opted to renew a voluntary agreement under which they’ll refrain from buying soy grown on Amazon land cleared in recent years. The new agreement, like the current version, is intended to discourage the conversion of rainforest to cropland. Under its terms, soy wholesalers and retailers have agreed not to buy soybeans from areas of Amazon rainforest cleared after July 2008. That was the month when a presidential decree set tougher rules for restoring illegally cleared land. Signed last month, the new soy accord was slated to take effect on Jan. 1, 2015, a day after its predecessor agreement is scheduled to expire. It will end on May 31, 2016...
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Opponents of large-scale mining in Argentina’s Chubut province seemed poised for a win this year when they collected 13,000 signatures in the province’s first use of a citizens’ initiative, placing anti-mining legislation before the provincial legislature. The bill called for the prohibition of metals mining that involves toxic substances such as cyanide and mercury, as well as mining of radioactive substances such as uranium. Filed in June, the bill came up for consideration on Nov. 25 in the unicameral provincial legislature. Hundreds of the proposal’s supporters gathered outside expecting a victory, but their optimism soon waned. That’s because Front for Victory, the governing party of Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, amended the bill so it only called for a four-month suspension of mining...
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Brazilian producers and importers of lights containing mercury signed an agreement with the Environment Ministry last month that sets up a system for collection and recycling of the mercury, a hazardous heavy metal, and other materials. Mercury is found in fluorescent tube and compact-fluorescent lights that illuminate interior spaces, and in sodium-vapor and mercury-vapor lights that line streets and parking lots. The new recycling initiative targeting mercury in lighting was created under the second sectoral accord to be signed in compliance with Brazil’s 2010 national solid waste management law. Under such agreements, manufacturers and importers of recyclable and reusable goods are required to reach recycling agreements with retail distributors. Currently, only about 5% of lights containing mercury are collected and recycled, says...
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