Canadian mining giant Barrick says that in September it will begin work on Pascua Lama, a huge, open-pit gold and silver mine high in the Andes that will straddle the border of Argentina and Chile. The announcement came this month after Argentine President Cristina Kirchner met with Aaron Regent, Barrick’s chief executive, in Buenos Aires. Barrick says the US$2.8 to 3 billion project marks the biggest foreign investment ever by a Canadian company. Project plans call for annual production of 700,000 ounces of gold and 25 million ounces of silver over 25 years. The mining site, high in the Andes, is partly within Chile’s Atacama region and Argentina’s San Juan province. Barrick has pledged the project will create 5,500 jobs during the construction...
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In the Dominican Republic, it has long been customary to keep a parrot with clipped wings as a household pet, along with the cat and dog. As the human population has burgeoned, however, this tradition has proved disastrous for the Hispaniolan parrot (Amazona ventralis), a species endemic to the island. In its latest fact sheet, Bird Life International classifies this parrot species as “vulnerable,” and forecasts a 30-49% decline for the bird in the Dominican Republic in the coming decade, should current levels of poaching continue. When traffickers steal fledglings, they often destroy the parrots’ nesting cavities in trees. This permanently halts the reproductive cycle. But there are signs of hope. A prominent one is a campaign launched recently by the Dominican government in partnership...
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New cars in Brazil are arriving in showrooms equipped with a fuel-consumption sticker on the window. Automakers began posting fuel-use information on new cars in mid-April, capping a two-year effort by the federal government to create the so-called “National Fuel Conservation Sticker” (Ence). Posted by car companies on a voluntary basis, the government-issued stickers give four figures quantifying a vehicle’s expected gasoline and ethanol consumption in both city and highway driving. In the case of subcompact and compact models, the sticker also displays a letter to show how the vehicle’s fuel-efficiency compares to that of others in its class, with A being the highest and E the lowest. (Only fuel-consumption data is given for larger models, officials...
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The prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize was awarded this year to two activists from Suriname’s Saramaka tribe for their work in stopping logging in tribal territory and establishing a legal precedent on tribal and indigenous rights. Wanze Eduards, a traditional tribal leader and Hugo Jabini, a law student, organized their tribe to resist logging companies that had been engaged in massive clear-cutting in Suriname’s central rainforest. They also successfully demanded in international court that the tribe be consulted in the awarding of timber concessions. For their work, they shared a $150,000 award, which was presented April 20 in a ceremony at the San Francisco Opera house in California. Five other winners, each representing a different continent, were also recognized by the Goldman Environmental Foundation. The...
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Environmentalists say two artificial islands being built in Panama Bay will obstruct currents that cleanse the estuary and keep Panama City safe from disease. Construction of the two islands—known as La Pinta and La Santamaría—is being carried out by Mexico’s ICA, which began the work last month. Representatives of local subsidiary ICA Panama say they expect to invest US$140 million in the building and development of the islands and to sell a total of 138 luxury housing lots on the land, which will include parks, fountains, and pedestrian paths. But various studies indicate the two islands could block a coastal current that runs from east to west along Panama City’s shoreline. Every year, the current flushes out to sea vast quantities of...
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