Thanks to a US$5.8 million donation from the foundation of a Swiss billionaire, a vast central Argentine wetland system that includes a naturally occurring saline lake is poised to become one of the country’s largest protected areas. The announcement by Argentine Environment Minister Juan Cabandié was made on May 8, World Migratory Bird Day, underscoring the region’s importance as habitat for hundreds of migratory bird species. Located in the Argentine province of Córdoba, the approximately 10,000-square-kilometer (3,900-sq.-mile) wetland region includes Mar Chiquita, one of the world’s biggest saline lakes. “Three freshwater rivers converge in [an inland] saline-water ecosystem, creating very particular environmental characteristics,” says Hernán Casañas, executive director of Aves Argentinas, a 105-year-old Argentine environmental nonprofit that helped organize the wetland-conservation project. “The wetland is home to 66% of the [country’s] migratory bird species and three species of South American flamingos...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
Peru’s government appears to have won few fans for its most recent version of the proposed Nazca Ridge National Reserve, which—if established—would be the country’s first marine reserve. In March, the Environment Ministry pre-published a draft decree to gather feedback before moving ahead with creation of the reserve, which would protect nearly 62,400 square kilometers (24,100 sq miles) off the southern coast. Establishment of the reserve would bring Peru closer to its international commitment of protecting 10% of its marine territory. But the draft legislation has received harsh criticism from supporters and opponents alike, with some complaining they were not consulted as the law requires, and others saying the wording renders the measure unenforceable. Groups in favor of the reserve claim the proposal as written would not only fail to protect targeted waters, but would also undermine protected areas in general by creating loopholes for extractive industry...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
A leading measure of 57 countries’ climate-protection performance places just one Latin American country, Chile, in the top ten slots of its latest ranking. The Climate Change Performance Index was created by the German development and environmental organization Germanwatch and is published in cooperation with NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network. The 2021 edition paints a dark picture overall, with the ranking’s top three spots intentionally left blank, organizers say, because “[w]hile a turning point in global emissions seems to be within reach, five years after the Paris Agreement no country is on a path compliant with the Paris Agreement goals.” The three highest-ranked countries were Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark, which placed fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Chile, one of four Latin American nations in the ranking, placed ninth, with Brazil 25th, Mexico 32nd and Argentina 46th. The United States was last in the ranking...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
Bolivian President Luis Arce has overturned a decree signed by his predecessor, Jeanine Añez, that allowed significantly broader cultivation of genetically modified crops in the country. Añez—a right-wing senator who became interim president after alleged election irregularities led to the resignation in 2019 of then-President Evo Morales—issued the controversial decree in May of 2020. Asserting the measure was needed to boost food production during the Covid-19 pandemic, Añez gave fast-track approval to commercial cultivation of transgenic varieties of corn, sugarcane, cotton, wheat and soybeans. (See "Citing pandemic, Bolivia plans wider use of GMOs" —EcoAméricas, May 2020.) Arce—like Morales, a member of the Movement for Socialism party—won the presidency in democratic elections held in November of 2020. He repealed his predecessor’s transgenic-agriculture decree on April 22, designated by the United...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
