A study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has found that 16 species of sharks and related fish that inhabit Mexican waters are threatened with extinction in the wild. The two most serious cases in Mexico are the scalloped hammerhead shark and the great hammerhead shark, which are classified as endangered and facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild, according to the study by the IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group. The study looked at sharks and related species such as skates and rays, collectively known as Chondrichthyans, in waters from Canada as far south as the Caribbean coasts of Colombia and Venezuela. Its authors found that 23 species altogether were threatened throughout the region, in both Pacific and Atlantic waters...
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In a controversial case that stretches back more than seven years, Chile’s Supreme Court in September upheld the conviction of prominent right-wing Chilean politician Nelson Schwerter for his role in the illegal cutting and exporting of the alerce tree. The alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides), a threatened species, is designated as a national monument in Chile and is prohibited for trade under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). One of the world’s oldest living trees, the alerce is capable of surviving more than 3,600 years. It can grow 45 meters (150 feet) high and 4.5 meters (15 feet) in diameter, and is often compared to the redwoods of the United States. Schwerter, president of the National Renovation party in the Lakes region until...
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Two controversial Amazon infrastructure projects are back on track—for now—as legal battling for and against them continues. Late last month, Carlos Ayres Britto, the chief justice of Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF), overturned a federal appeals court decision that had suspended work on the R$26 billion ($12.9 billion), 11,283-megawatt Belo Monte dam. And in early September, the Norte Energía consortium, led by the federal electricity holding company Eletrobras, resumed construction on Belo Monte, which is slated to be the world’s third most powerful hydroelectric station. A three-member panel of the Brasília-based First Regional Court of Justice had ordered work on Belo Monte to stop on grounds that a failure to hold proper consultations with indigenous groups made the dam project...
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A new agency answerable to Peru’s Environment Ministry will oversee environmental impact statements for extractive industries, particularly mining and petroleum, under a bill submitted to Congress by President Ollanta Humala. The bill would create the National Environmental Certification Service for Sustainable Environmental Investments (Senace), which would take over responsibility for approving environmental impact statements, according to Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal. The minister did not specify a timeline. The bill is the first in a series of measures aimed at creating a “new relationship” with extractive industries, according to government officials. Pulgar-Vidal said he did not know when the other draft legislation would be submitted. Sources familiar with negotiations within the cabinet said ministers were wrangling over proposals to pool environmental data and establish...
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