Tierramérica

Issue of September, 21, 2009



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Electric car prototypes developed in Brazil.
Credit: Alexandre Marchetti, Courtesy of Itaipú Binacional

Report
Car Revolution in the Making
By Mario Osava - IPS/IFEJ
Brazil could take advantage of the electric car boom to build up the industry at home, given the threats of climate change and petroleum crisis - and the death foretold of the combustion engine.

A eucalyptus plantation in Uruguay.
Credit: Courtesy of the World Rainforest Movement

Accents
Trees: Out of the Forest and Into the Oven
By Stephen Leahy
The boom in electricity production from biomass in the industrialized North is generating boom in demand for wood from natural forests or tree plantations - with environmental and social consequences.

Eco-Briefs

BRAZIL: Sewage Water Contaminates Crops
Sewage water can be used to boost agricultural yields, as Tierramérica has reported, but can also contaminate crops and soil with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

VENEZUELA: CFCs on the Decline
Since 2004, Venezuela has reduced consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by 90 percent, reports Osmer Castillo, president of the Industrial Reconversion Fund. These compounds, used in refrigeration, deplete the planet's ozone layer.

CUBA: Promoting Tourism in the Zapata Marsh
Cuba has decided to boost the tourism profile of the Zapata Marsh, the Caribbean's largest wetland, but is implementing a strategy to ensure the preservation of this rich ecosystem, located 156 kilometers southeast of Havana.

HONDURAS: Endangered Species in Cloud Forest
Experts from the non-governmental Zamorano Biodiversity Center of Honduras have called on officials and community groups to preserve the cloud forest of the northern Yoro Mountain National Park.

CHILE: Progress on Volcano Monitoring
Chile's National Volcanic Monitoring Network is setting its sights on establishing four observatories by 2013.

Lessons From a Unique Decade - José Graziano da Silva *
Rio+20 and Beyond: Together for a Sustainable Future - José Graziano da Silva *
Why Inclusive Green Growth Can Sustain Recent Gains in Latin America - Hasan Tuluy*
The Global Food Crisis and the Latin American Paradox - Pamela Cox