Uruguay appears poised to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags, alarmed by the vast quantities of discarded plastic floating in its waters and causing the deaths of sea turtles and other marine animals. Conservation experts welcome the progress, though they doubt action by Uruguay alone will substantially improve matters given the many countries contributing to the problem. In December, the Uruguayan Senate unanimously approved a bill proposed by the executive branch to prohibit the “manufacture, import, distributions, sale and provision” of plastic bags that are not biodegradable.” The measure, which is soon expected to clear the lower house and be put into effect immediately thereafter, also empowers businesses to charge customers for biodegradable plastic bags in order to limit their use as well. The legislative advance...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
Five years after the court-ordered suspension of the project on account of ecological concerns, Chile has definitively canceled the massive, open-pit Pascua Lama gold and silver mine straddling the country’s border with Argentina, saying groundwork at the Andean site has caused “irreparable environmental damage.” In a dramatic executive order announced Jan. 17 by Chile’s environmental-enforcement authority, the government effectively killed Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold’s plan for the mine, for which it won Chile’s approval in 2001 and Argentina’s in 2006. The company did not challenge the decision, but says it is exploring an alternative, underground-mining strategy for extracting the precious metals. The mine, located at an elevation of over 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) along the border of the Atacama region...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
Two major national park projects, one in Peru and the other in Argentina, are being welcomed by conservationists for bolstering land preservation, respectively, in the Amazon watershed and the Patagonian steppe. In both cases, however, the projects have drawn criticism from groups arguing that at least some of the land should be put to more intensive economic use. Peru’s creation this month of Yaguas National Park, covering about 8,690 square kilometers (3,355 square miles) along the border with Colombia, has drawn praise from conservationists and both support and opposition from indigenous groups. The park, officially established on Jan. 12, fronts the Putumayo River in an area that is home to Yagua, Bora, Tikuna, Murui Muinani, Ocaina and Kichwa indigenous people. Resource extraction and human settlements...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
