Citing concerns about the environment, small miners and Indian tribes, Venezuela’s Environment and Natural Resources Ministry on April 30 blocked two large North American gold-mining projects in the mineral-rich Imataca Forest Reserve near the border with Guyana. The measure cheered green advocates fearing cyanide contamination in the 9.4-million-acre (3.8-million-ha) Imataca, home to five Indian groups and half a dozen important rivers. But it irked the mining companies, Canada’s Crystallex International and Gold Reserve of the United States, which between them expected to tap gold deposits totaling nearly 25 million ounces. “[Local] support for mining is clearly evidenced by the approval of our Environmental and Social Impact Study in early 2007,” said Gold Reserve President Doug Belanger. “It is unfathomable...
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Exported in large numbers to Mexico, scrap tires from the United States have caused major environmental headaches in the border region for decades. Now, environmental authorities from the two countries, in partnership with private industry, are stepping up efforts to recycle millions of worn treads. At a meeting in San Diego this month, they agreed to harness all 10 U.S. and Mexican border states in a common program aimed at turning used tires into new roads, playgrounds and landfill covers. The state governments of Baja California and California were the first to sign the so-called Tire Initiative Collaborative Effort. “We know there’s a high demand for perm rubbers, but I don’t think we capitalize on it in the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Ricardo Martinez...
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A government call for bids on oil and gas exploration near Argentina’s oldest national park has touched off debate in Bariloche, one of the country’s foremost tourism cities. At issue is a decision by the government of Río Negro, the Patagonian province where Bariloche is located, to include the 4,000-square-mile (10,000-sq-km) Ñirihuau basin among the last of a total of 18 oil and gas concessions it has leased since early 2006. The province has been looking to attract exploration projects amid a decline in Argentine oil and gas reserves that has generated fears of energy shortages here. The effort has not gone down well in the Andean mountain city of Bariloche, where concern about the effects of energy projects on the...
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Hoping to curb problems including illegal logging and mining, Colombia gave itself an Earth Day gift last month, announcing it would create 11 national parks and expand five existing ones. Juan Lozano, Colombia’s minister of the environment, housing and territorial development, says the move will add 370,000 acres (150,000 has) to the nation’s 28.2-million-acre (11.4-million-ha) park system and help “guarantee the environmental sustainability of the nation.” “We are putting our soul into this effort to protect our natural patrimony,” Lozano told EcoAméricas after the April 22 announcement. “We’ve increased the parks budget this year to unprecedented levels [from US$3.5 million in 2007 to $25 million this year]. Our security forces have recovered wilderness once in the hands of illegal guerrilla...
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