Peru on June 26 joined Belize and El Salvador on the list of Latin nations that have made environmental investments in return for a reduction in the size of their foreign debt. So-called debt-for-nature swaps provide financial relief to debtor nations in exchange for local conservation spending commitments. Funds from the U.S.-Peruvian deal will be used on conservation projects in parks and reserves in the Peruvian Amazon. Under the agreement, the U.S. government cut a bilateral debt with Peru by $10.6 million. For its part, Peru pledged to distribute an equivalent amount in local currency to conservation organizations working in the Amazon region. Three international groups—Conservation International, the Worldwide Fund for Nature and The Nature Conservancy—will contribute $370,000 apiece...
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On July 5, a fuel-supply vessel owned by the Ecuadorian Navy spilled 500 gallons (1,900 liters) of diesel oil less than a mile (1.6 kms) off Isabela Island, the largest island in the Galápagos chain. Park rangers, divers and cleanup personnel intervened quickly, collecting 98% of the spilled fuel, according to Capt. Ángel Valencia, the Navy’s chief operations for the Galápagos. Officials at Charles Darwin Scientific Station and Galápagos National Park reported no immediate environmental harm from the spill, which occurred as the Navy vessel Taurus was delivering fuel to the Galápagos Electric Company. The accident marked the second spill at the Galápagos since a far larger one in January 2001, in which the tanker Jessica lost 240,000 gallons (908,000 liters) of bunker and...
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The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is looking into two contentious issues—the detection of genetically modified U.S. corn strains in Mexican crops, and alleged breaches of environmental laws by Molymex, a Mexican company that processes copper-smelting waste. The examination of transgenic contamination of corn was requested in numerous citizens’ complaints filed with the CEC. It follows the discovery last year that, despite Mexico’s moratorium on transgenic crops, corn in Oaxaca state contained artificially modified genes. (See “GM strains found in Mexican corn plantings”—EcoAméricas, Oct. 2001.) “In the communities of the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, we are very worried about the effects on our traditional [corn] varieties,” says Miguel Ramírez Domínguez, of the Natural Resources Committee of the Sierra Juárez, one of the...
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A coalition of environmental groups from Nicaragua, Bolivia, Guatemala and the United States complains that international food-aid donors are fighting famine in the region with genetically modified corn. The groups worry not only about the effects transgenic corn might have on human health, but also about the possibility this corn might be planted, contaminating local corn varieties. Says Carlos Salvatierra of the Madre Selva environmental organization, a Guatemalan group in the coalition: “This is a question of food security. This is a serious threat for Guatemala’s biodiversity of native corns.” The environmental groups allege that tests a U.S. lab performed on food aid from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) revealed that genetically modified corn varieties...
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Conservation International (CI) and Peru’s National Institute of Natural Resources (Inrena) are working to formalize a conservation corridor covering 74 million acres (30 million hectares) of biodiverse land in Peru and Bolivia, including 15 protected areas. At a recent meeting in Lima, CI and Inrena agreed to prepare a communications strategy to inform residents and authorities in the Vilcabamba-Amboró conservation corridor about the goals and importance of the project. Ultimately, the objective is to incorporate preservation of ecological connectivity in local and national land-planning policies. The corridor covers the transition area from the Andes to Amazonia, spanning altitudes from 19,500 feet to 1,000 feet (6000 meters to 300 meters) above sea level. It lies within what CI calls the tropical-Andes hotspot, one...
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