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### Viewing cable 08BRASILIA877, SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 110

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08BRASILIA877 | 2008-06-27 14:59 | 2011-07-11 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Brasilia

`

    VZCZCXRO5151
    RR RUEHAST RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM
    DE RUEHBR #0877/01 1791459
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    R 271459Z JUN 08
    FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1973
    INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
    RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0299
    RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0318
    RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 0474
    RUEHUP/AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST 0292
    RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 0336
    RUEHOR/AMEMBASSY GABORONE 0295
    RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0301
    RUEHLC/AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE 0302
    RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0822
    RUEHSV/AMEMBASSY SUVA 0281
    RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0517
    RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5632
    RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0425
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 6330
    RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 3855
    RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 2513
    RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4622
    RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6907
    RUEHGE/AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN 1512
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    RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO 1566
    RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 4147
    RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8196
    RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 2314
    RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6324
    RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
    RHEBAAA/DOE WASHDC
    RUEHC/DOI WASHDC
    RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC
    RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
    RUEANAT/NASA HQ WASHDC
    RUCPDC/NOAA WASHDC
    RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
    RUEHRC/USDA WASHDC
    RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 17 BRASILIA 000877

    SIPDIS

    DEPT PASS USAID TO LAC/RSD, LAC/SAM, G/ENV, PPC/ENV
    TREASURY FOR USED IBRD AND IDB AND INTL/MDB
    USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE: LIZ MAHEW
    INTERIOR FOR DIR INT AFFAIRS: K WASHBURN
    INTERIOR FOR FWS: TOM RILEY
    INTERIOR FOR NPS: JONATHAN PUTNAM
    INTERIOR PASS USGS FOR INTERNATIONAL: J WEAVER
    JUSTICE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES: JWEBB
    EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL: CAM HILL-MACON
    USDA FOR ARS/INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH: G FLANLEY
    NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL: HAROLD STOLBERG

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID TBIO ECON SOCI XR BR
    SUBJECT: SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 110

    BRASILIA 00000877  001.2 OF 017

    ¶1.  The following is the one-hundred-tenth in a series of
    newsletters, published by the Brasilia Regional Environmental Hub,
    covering environment, science and technology, and health news in
    South America.  The information below was gathered from news sources
    from across the region, and the views expressed do not necessarily
    reflect those of the Hub office or our constituent posts.
    Addressees who would like to receive a user-friendly email version
    of this newsletter should contact Larissa Stoner at
    stonerla@state.gov.  The e-mail version also contains a calendar of
    upcoming ESTH events in the region.  NOTE: THE NEWSLETTER IS NOW
    ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE BRASILIA INTRANET PAGE, BY CLICKING ON THE
    'HUB' LINK.

    ¶2. Table of Contents

    Agriculture
    --(3)Stakeholder Group Mulls 'Responsible Soy'
    --(4)Brazil Extends Amazon Soy Ban

    Health
    --(5)South-South Cooperation to Fight Child Malnutrition

    Forests
    --(6)Brazil Slaps Millions in Environmental Fines on Steel
    Companies
    --(7)Brazil Police Arrest Loggers in Amazon Reserve
    --(8)Brazil to Set Up Amazon Protection Fund
    --(9)Brazil Environment Agency Seizes Amazon Soy, Corn
    --(10)Colombian Drug Cartels Blamed For the Destruction of
    Rainforest
    --(11)Brazil Announces Plan for Sustainable Amazon Development

    Fishing & Marine Conservation
    --(12)Guyana Gets Go-Ahead for the Import of Shrimp

    Protected Areas
    --(13)Colombia to Add More Land to Its National Park System
    --(14)Oil and Gas Exploration Plans Rile Argentina's Tourist
    Destinations

    Science & Technology
    --(15)Brazil Biotech 'Held Back' By Regulatory Barriers

    BRASILIA 00000877  002.2 OF 017

    --(16)Lula Tries To Build South American Antarctic Research Program

    Climate Change
    --(17)Scientists Probe Chile's Coast for Climate Change Factors
    --(18)Brazil's Amazon Conservation Efforts worth $100 Billion

    Pollution
    --(19)Brazilian Court Ruling Targets Impact Fees

    Waste Management & Recycling
    --(20)Argentina Approves Recycled Plastic for Food Containers

    Mining & Other Extractive Industries
    --(21)Venezuela Halts Two Gold Mining Projects
    --(22)Guyana, Brazil to Work Closer On Conflict Diamonds
    --(23)World Wildlife Fund Guyana Pushing Safer Mining Practices

    Energy
    --(24)Chile to Build Eco-Friendly Dams
    --(25)Sugar Cane Surpasses Hydroelectric Dams in Brazil Energy
    Complex
    --(26)Editorial: Challenges of Installing Wind Power in Chile

    General
    --(27)Scientists Monitor Eruption's Fallout in Chile
    --(28)Chile Enviro Groups Give Bachelet Lukewarm Review

    -----------
    Agriculture
    -----------

    ¶3. Stakeholder Group Mulls 'Responsible Soy'

    May 2008 - Can agricultural standards be developed voluntarily that
    would make South America's boom in soy cultivation environmentally
    sustainable? A multi-stakeholder group including representatives of
    agribusiness, environmental organizations, the banking industry and
    academia convened in Buenos Aires last month on the theory that such
    an initiative might be possible. "Until recently we thought
    productivity was not compatible with sustainability," Gustavo
    Grobocopatel, a leading Argentine soy producer, said at the April
    23-24 meeting, called The Round Table Conference on Responsible Soy.

    BRASILIA 00000877  003.2 OF 017

    "We discovered the opposite is true." South America has played a
    large part in the expansion of world soy production.  Brazil,
    Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia alone account for more than half of
    the world's soy crop, with production in each of these countries
    increasing at a rate of 10% annually.

    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶4. Brazil Extends Amazon Soy Ban

    June 17, 2008 - Grain crushers have extended a two-year-old
    moratorium on the purchase of soybeans planted in areas of the
    Amazon rain forest cut down after 2006. Brazil's environment
    minister Carlos Minc made the announcement together with the
    Brazilian Vegetable Oils Industry Association, a soy industry group,
    as part of a larger effort to regulate land use in the world's
    largest remaining tropical wilderness. The original ban began July
    31, 2006, and was scheduled to end on July 31 of this year. It will
    now remain in effect until July 23, 2009. Minc told reporters in
    Brazil's capital that he would work to fashion similar agreements
    with loggers, slaughterhouses, and steel mills in the Amazon. The
    current moratorium seems to be preventing additional rain forest
    destruction in the name of soy expansion: A study conducted by
    Greenpeace and the oils industry association concludes that no new
    soybean plantations were detected in any of the 193 areas that
    registered deforestation (250 acres or more) during the first year
    of the moratorium.

    Source - Miami Herald

    ------
    Health
    ------

    ¶5. South-South Cooperation to Fight Child Malnutrition

    May 7, 2008 - Cooperation between Latin American countries, which is
    "cheap, efficient and horizontal", could fast-track the fight
    against child malnutrition, said Nils Kastberg, the regional
    director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), at a
    conference held in Santiago, Chile.  Kastberg called on Latin

    BRASILIA 00000877  004.2 OF 017

    American and Caribbean countries to commemorate the 200th
    anniversary of their independence from Spain in 2010 with a specific
    goal in mind: ensuring that no child is undernourished.  In his
    view, the challenge could be achieved with political will and a
    pan-American spirit, by harnessing South-South cooperation. He said
    indigenous communities and migrants are two of the most vulnerable
    populations that could benefit from South-South cooperation on child
    malnutrition. There have already been experiences of cross-border
    cooperation, where immigrants are covered by the health system, even
    when their status is irregular and of training courses for customs
    personnel. South-South cooperation is a goldmine the region has not
    yet learned to exploit. A continent-wide strategy needs to be
    developed," said Cristina Lazo, executive director of the Chilean
    Agency for International Cooperation (AGCI).

    Source - IPS News

    -------
    Forests
    -------

    ¶6. Brazil Slaps Millions in Environmental Fines on Steel Companies

    June 13, 2008 - Brazil is imposing US$250 million in fines on steel
    companies caught using charcoal made from illegally logged forests.
    Carlos Minc, the environment minister, said 60 steel companies in
    three states face 414 million reals (US$250 million) in fines and
    must replant about 27,181 acres (11,000 hectares) of forest for
    using the illegal coal.  He said charcoal companies would be fined a
    total of 70 million reals (US$43 million).  Brazil has very few coal
    mines and demand for wood-based charcoal for use in steel mills is a
    major driver of deforestation in the Amazon and other regions. In
    this case, the illegal charcoal came from the Cerrado, a
    savanna-like ecosystem that occupies much of central Brazil, and the
    Pantanal, a huge wetland that extends into Bolivia and Paraguay.

    Source -GMA News

    ¶7. Brazil Police Arrest Loggers in Amazon Reserve

    May 29, 2008 - Brazilian federal police arrested at least 40 members
    of an illegal logging operation in an Amazon tribal Indian

    BRASILIA 00000877  005.2 OF 017

    reservation amid growing concern over destruction of the world's
    largest rain forest. The operation cleared the equivalent of 70,000
    football fields of virgin forest in the Vale do Guapore Indian
    reserve in Mato Grosso state, the federal police said in a
    statement. Among those arrested were loggers, highway and military
    police officers, neighboring farmers, and state civil servants. The
    loggers bribed officials of the government's Indian foundation Funai
    and befriended Indians with gifts such as cars, motorcycles and
    chain saws, a Mato Grosso police spokeswoman told Reuters.

    Source - Reuters

    ¶8. Brazil to Set Up Amazon Protection Fund

    May 29, 2008 - Brazil's state-run development bank will set up an
    international donations fund for the preservation of the Amazon as
    the country fends off criticism for not doing enough to preserve its
    rain forest. Luciano Coutinho, president of the National Economic
    and Social Development Bank (BNDES), told reporters the first
    contribution was already being negotiated with the Norwegian
    government and could be up to $200 million. The BNDES, which has the
    Environment Ministry's mandate to manage the fund, already has
    credit lines to help companies that respect the Kyoto protocol on
    greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment. Brazilian
    President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has dismissed foreign concern
    over Amazon preservation on several occasions in the past few days
    after the resignation of Environment Minister Marina Silva. He said
    countries that had already chopped down their forests and were among
    the worst polluters should not be giving Brazil environmental advice
    or talking about the Amazon as if it belonged to the world.

    Source - Reuters

    ¶9. Brazil Environment Agency Seizes Amazon Soy, Corn

    May 21, 2008 - Brazil's environmental agency Ibama seized some 4,740
    tons of soy, corn and rice grown on illegally deforested land in the
    Amazon, as the country struggles with its environmental image
    abroad.  Very little of Brazil's production of grains and biofuels
    occurs anywhere near the Amazon, but the price of beef has risen to
    levels that make ranching in the Amazon profitable.  Loggers,
    shadowy real estate companies, and squatters account for most of the

    BRASILIA 00000877  006.2 OF 017

    illegal deforestation in the region.  With the recent seizure, IBAMA
    agents took over the fields of a farm in the southeast of Para
    state.  Although the owner of 500 hectares (1,235 acres) in the town
    of Dom Eliseu had previously been fined for illegal deforestation, a
    second inspection showed crops were planted there.  The owner was
    fined an additional 8 million reais ($4.8 million). The fields that
    are beginning to harvest contain 1,740 tons of soy, 2,640 tons of
    corn and 360 tons of rice. The owner has 20 days to present his
    appeal in defense against the fine.  The seized soy, corn and rice
    may go toward the government's Zero Hunger program that subsidizes
    food for Brazil's poor.

    Source - Reuters

    ¶10. Colombian Drug Cartels Blamed For the Destruction of Rainforest

    May 23, 2008 - Drug cultivation is the biggest cause of
    deforestation in Colombia with 741,000 acres of rainforest cleared
    every year, the country's vice-president has said.  So far,
    Colombia's coca producers have destroyed 5.5 million acres of
    rainforest with slash and burn cultivation.  About half a ton of
    pesticides, fertilizers, sulphuric acid and other chemicals are then
    used to turn every acre of coca into pure cocaine. Francisco Santos
    Calderon, the vice-president of Colombia, stated that the
    environmental "devastation" caused by drug producers had gone
    largely unnoticed.  Colombia's controversial, US-funded policy of
    eradicating coca fields is also inflicting immense environmental
    damage. Last year, the authorities destroyed about 400,000 acres,
    mostly with indiscriminate aerial spraying.  Colombia's peasant
    farmers grow coca alongside normal food crops. Aerial spraying
    destroys everything, forcing them to move to new land and clear more
    forest.

    Source - The Daily Telegraph

    ¶11. Brazil Announces Plan for Sustainable Amazon Development

    May 9, 2008 - Brazil's government unveiled new eco-friendly
    development plans for the Amazon rain forest, including low-cost
    loans to farmers and emergency measures to combat illegal logging.
    The Sustainable Amazon Plan will grant farmers 1 billion real
    (US$600 million) loans at 4 percent annual interest, well below the

    BRASILIA 00000877  007.2 OF 017

    country's benchmark 11.75 percent rate, to adopt eco-friendly
    farming methods and encourage reforestation.  In a bid to reconcile
    economic development with conservation, the government is also
    offering food, social security and unemployment benefits to 40,000
    families once involved in logging, as it develops other programs to
    help them find new sources of income. The plan also aims to improve
    Amazon highways and river transport, expand ports and broaden access
    to electricity.  NOTE:  Long-term Planning Minister Mangabeira Unger
    was given the lead of this program, causing discomfort between
    President Lula and Environment Minister Marina Silva and eventually
    leading to her resignation. END NOTE.

    Source - Associated Press

    -----------------------------
    Fishing & Marine Conservation
    -----------------------------

    ¶12. Guyana Gets Go-Ahead for the Export of Shrimp

    June 05, 2008 - Over the past decade and one half, Guyana has been
    witnessing a thriving shrimp industry. The success of the shrimp
    industry has called for several important measures to be taken
    before the Seabob variety of shrimp could be exported to the United
    States.  In an attempt to save and protect sea turtles, it has
    become mandatory for shrimp trawlers to install The Turtle Extractor
    Device (TED), on their shrimp nets. This device is a safety
    mechanism that prevents the turtles from being trapped in the shrimp
    nets.  Because of the importance of the Seabob market in the United
    States, the Guyana Fisheries Department, Ministry of Agriculture and
    the Guyana Association of Private Trawler Owners and Seafood
    Processors, have been constantly monitoring the wharves where the
    trawlers off-load their catch.  This constant and increased
    monitoring by competent authorities in Guyana has achieved positive
    results for the country's fishing industry, resulting in Guyana's
    re-certification for shrimp exportation to the United States of
    America as of May 1, 2008.

    Source -Guyana Chronicle

    ---------------
    Protected Areas

    BRASILIA 00000877  008.2 OF 017

    ---------------

    ¶13. Colombia to Add More Land to Its National Park System

    May 2008 - Hoping to curb problems including illegal logging and
    mining, Colombia gave itself an Earth Day gift, 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 hectares) to the nation's 28.2-million-acre
    (11.4-million-ha) park system and help "guarantee the environmental
    sustainability of the nation".  By the end of 2009, new parks will
    be designated in locations including Portete Bay on the Caribbean;
    the paramos of the Pinche mountains in southwest Colombia; and in
    the Pacific Coast's Malaga Bay, the world's principal breeding and
    calving ground for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeanglaie).  Among
    the five parks to be expanded are two on the Caribbean-Isla de
    Salamanca, a Ramsar site, and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a Unesco
    World Heritage site that includes the world's highest coastal range.
    Environmentalists call the decision long overdue, citing the damage
    being done to Colombian ecosystems by logging, mining, and the
    voracious expansion of the agricultural frontier.

    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶14. Oil and Gas Exploration Plans Rile Argentina's Tourist
    Destinations

    May 2008 - 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 tourist destinations.  At
    issue is a decision by the government of Rio Negro, the Patagonian
    province where Bariloche is located, to include the
    4,000-square-mile (10,000-sq-km) Nirihuau 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 domestic energy shortages. The effort has not gone down well in
    the Andean mountain city of Bariloche, where concerns about the
    effects of energy projects on the environment and the tourism
    industry run strong.  A portion of the proposed concession area

    BRASILIA 00000877  009.2 OF 017

    comes within three miles (five kms) of the 1.7-million-acre
    (700,000-ha) Nahuel Huapi National Park, which was created in 1934,
    and lies 16 miles (25 kms) from Bariloche.  All five of the
    principal candidates in Bariloche's mayoral campaign opposed the oil
    and gas exploration, pledging that, if elected, they would ask the
    province to cancel it.

    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    --------------------
    Science & Technology
    --------------------

    ¶15. Brazil Biotech 'Held Back' By Regulatory Barriers

    June 9, 2008 - Brazil has the "building blocks" for an innovative
    health biotechnology sector, but is held back by regulatory barriers
    and poor coordination between the public and private sectors, say
    the authors of a new study.  The authors, from the McLaughlin-Rotman
    Centre for Global Health (MRC), based at the University Health
    Network and the University of Toronto, Canada, used case studies
    from 19 domestically-owned private biotechnology companies and four
    public sector research institutions to draw their conclusions,
    published last week in the June issue of Nature Biotechnology.
    Development of products like vaccines, medicines, and diagnostic
    kits has made considerable progress in Brazilian companies in recent
    years, the authors found.  Products have been developed to deal with
    local health problems that are often ignored by larger international
    pharmaceutical companies (e.g., malaria, Chagas disease, and dengue
    fever). But barriers remain, say the authors.  For example, it can
    take seven years to process patent applications, and there are often
    long delays in the ethics approval process for clinical trials.

    Source - SciDev

    ¶16. Lula Tries To Build South American Antarctic Research Program

    May 12, 2008 - Representatives of Brazil and six other South
    American nations met in Rio de Janeiroto discuss a joint strategy
    to pool resources fo research in Antarctica.  According to
    BrazilianScience and Technology Minister Sergio Rezende, th

    BRASILIA 00000877  010.2 OF 017

    meeting aims to "measure the needs" of South American scientists to
    organize a multilateral science program in the South Pole. The other
    six countries which participated in the meeting are Argentina,
    Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and Ecuador.

    Source - Folha de Sao Paulo

    --------------
    Climate Change
    --------------

    ¶17. Scientists Probe Chile's Coast for Climate Change Factors

    June 18, 2008 - An international team of scientists began delving
    into the mysteries of Chile's coastal waters, hoping to unlock the
    secrets of the deep - particularly as they might relate to global
    climate change.  Experts from some of the world's leading research
    universities headed out from the Region II city of Iquique aboard
    the research vessel Armada Vidal Gormaz. The 10-day oceanographic
    cruise is serving as the base for pioneering research in "oxygen
    minimum zones" found only off the coasts of northern Chile and
    southern Peru. These masses of water with extremely low oxygen
    content - and with the microorganisms that inhabit them - could
    serve as a crystal ball for what some ocean waters could be like in
    a warmer world.

    Source - Santiago Times

    ¶18. Brazil's Amazon Conservation Efforts worth $100 Billion

    May 29, 2008 - A plan to protect large expanses of the Amazon
    rainforest could reduce carbon emissions by 1.1 billion tons by
    2050, according to a study presented in Bonn, Germany at the UN
    Convention on Biological Diversity. Assessing the carbon stored in
    forests protected under the Brazil's Amazon Region Protected Areas
    Program (ARPA) -- a program created in 2003 that seeks to preserve
    some 40 million hectares of Amazon rainforest by 2012 -- researchers
    at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil and the Woods
    Hole Research Center in Massachusetts estimate that areas protected
    by the initiative hold some 4.6 billion tons of carbon. Forecasting
    the expected forest loss if the designated areas were not protected,
    the researchers calculate that the program will avoid some 1.1

    BRASILIA 00000877  011.2 OF 017

    billion tons of carbon emissions. By some estimates, including the
    British government's Stern Review, the emissions reductions could be
    worth more than 100 billion dollars. The Stern Review's estimates
    calculated the long-term cost of one ton of carbon dioxide at $312
    per ton of carbon (using present value of $85 per ton).

    Source - Mongabay

    ---------
    Pollution
    ---------

    ¶19. Brazilian Court Ruling Targets Impact Fees

    May 2008 - Four years ago, Brazil's leading business lobby - the
    National Industrial Confederation (CNI) - asked the country's
    Supreme Court to overturn a 2000 law establishing environmental
    impact fees for industrial projects, levies that promised to become
    a significant source of conservation funding in Brazil.  In April
    2008 however, the Supreme Court ruled the case and removed parts of
    the statute. Most importantly, it ruled that government authorities
    cannot-as has been their practice-fix a minimum impact fee based on
    0.5% of a project's initial investment, saying this unfairly
    penalizes companies that spend on pollution control. The high court
    said impact fees are allowable if calculated according to each
    project's expected environmental impacts. Analysts agree that this
    could mean delays in the licensing of industrial projects since the
    government must complete and implement a methodology for such
    calculations. And once the methodology is in place, they say, it's
    possible impact fees might wind up higher than they would have been
    under the system of minimum charges used initially.

    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ----------------------------
    Waste Management & Recycling
    ----------------------------

    ¶20. Argentina Approves Recycled Plastic for Food Containers

    May 05, 2008 - Argentina's National Industrial Technology Institute

    BRASILIA 00000877  012.2 OF 017

    (INTI) has approved a technique for manufacturing food containers
    from recycled plastic bottles.  The institute advised the Ministry
    of Health in adapting an internationally accepted technology that
    has never been used in Argentina, INTI engineer Alejandro Ariosti
    told Tierramerica.  Now, plastic containers that have been thrown
    out will be sanitized, melted, and sold to be mixed with "virgin"
    materials to manufacture new containers for food and beverages.  In
    Argentina, bottles from soft drinks and cooking oils made with
    polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were rendered and used to make
    textiles, but only now has its safety for re-use as food containers
    been proved.

    Source - Tierramerica

    ------------------------------------
    Mining & Other Extractive Industries
    ------------------------------------

    ¶21. Venezuela Halts Two Gold Mining Projects

    May 2008 - 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
    Reserve, 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.  The conflict between the two mining companies and the
    Venezuelan government reflects the troubled history of the Imataca
    Reserve, with its deposits of gold, diamonds, and copper, and its
    tropical-forest habitat for jaguars, anteaters, and nearly 500
    species of birds. Contradicting his presidential campaign promises,
    President Hugo Chavez in 2004 opened 12% of the reserve to mining
    and another 60% to logging to attract foreign investment. But
    Indians and other locals who worked as small scale miners protested
    that they were being pushed out by multinationals. Protests erupted
    in 2005, when local miners claimed to have been violently evicted
    from the Crystallex concession. In 2005, President Chvez reversed
    course, announcing he would favor small-scale mining cooperatives

    BRASILIA 00000877  013.2 OF 017

    over private companies in granting concessions and would give them
    technical assistance to reduce pollution.  Last month, he took that
    decision to its seemingly logical extreme, stripping the two North
    American companies of mining rights they believed they already had
    won.

    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶22. World Wildlife Fund Guyana Pushing Safer Mining Practices

    June 06, 2008 - Even as Guyana's gold mining sector continues to
    attract criticism from environmentalists and host nation lobbyists
    over mining practices considered harmful to the human and physical
    environment, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Secretariat in Guyana
    says that it will continue to collaborate with the Guyana Geology
    and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners
    Association (GGDMA), the local gold-miners, lobby groups, and mining
    communities to help move the industry towards more sustainable
    mining practices.  Last April WWF met with local miners to sensitize
    them to the impact of mining on the ecosystems, to provide
    information on problems facing the mining comQy, and to work
    collaboratively to develop improved mining practices.  WWF is also
    involved in environmental impact monitoring to determine the effects
    of mining on the environment. "We do a fair amount of monitoring of
    the environment to determine mercury use, suspended solids
    concentrations, and water quality", said WWF representative Rickford
    Vieira.  Meanwhile, the WWF will shortly be providing the Guyana
    Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) with a US$30,000 grant
    to secure the services of a consultant to train miners in how to
    develop tailings facilities to contain mining waste in order to
    prevent the contamination of streams used by the communities for
    domestic purposes.

    Source - Starbroeknews

    ¶23. Guyana, Brazil to Work Closer On Conflict Diamonds

    JUNE 06, 2008 - Guyana Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Acting
    Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC)
    William Woolford met recently with Brazil's Deputy Minister of Mines
    and Energy Claudio Seliar to discuss the ongoing commitment of the

    BRASILIA 00000877  014.2 OF 017

    two countries to controlling the international trade in conflict
    diamonds.  Guyana and Brazil are signatories to the Kimberley
    Process, a regulatory system backed by the United Nations which
    seeks to track the international production and movement of
    diamonds. The Process stipulates that freshly mined diamonds should
    be sealed in registered containers that certify their country of
    origin and that diamond exporters do not accept unregistered gems
    that might profit insurgents or criminals.

    Source - Stabroek News

    ------
    Energy
    ------

    ¶24. Chile to Build Eco-Friendly Dams

    May 28, 2008 - Chilean energy company Colbun, in partnership with
    Fondo Independencia, plans to build five small-scale hydroelectric
    dams over the next two years, with two completed in 2008.  Slated
    for Regions VII and VIII, the so-called run-of-the-river dams will
    have a generating capacity of between 10 and 15 MW each.  Together
    they are expected to cost some US$40 million. Colbun and Fondo
    Independencia agreed last year to spend US$100 million on
    non-conventional renewable energy projects. The partners plan to
    construct three more slightly larger dams next year.  Colbun is one
    of Chile's major energy producers. It is currently at the center of
    a major controversy over its plans - together with Spanish-Italian
    electricity giant Endesa - to build five massive hydroelectric dams
    in far southern Chile's Aysen region.

    Source - Santiago Times

    ¶25. Sugar Cane Surpasses Hydroelectric Dams in Brazil Energy
    Complex

    May 8, 2008 - In 2007, sugar cane and cane-based ethanol became more
    important energy sources than hydroelectric power plants in Brazil's
    overall energy complex, topped only by petroleum and oil products.
    The government's energy planning agency EPE said sugar cane had a 16
    percent share in the country's so-called energy matrix -- a
    combination of all sources of energy including fuels and electricity

    BRASILIA 00000877  015.2 OF 017

    - while power dams were left behind with a 14.7 percent share. Oil
    and derivatives had a 36.7 percent weighting, dropping from 37.8
    percent in 2006.  EPE President Mauricio Tolmasquim attributed the
    growing role of sugar cane to booming demand for ethanol as a motor
    fuel, but expected more cane and ethanol to be used for electricity
    generation as well.  In February 2007, the consumption of ethanol
    surpassed that of gasoline for the first time in two decades. The
    trend is driven by a drop in ethanol prices and huge sales of
    flex-fuel cars that can run on ethanol, gasoline, or any mix of the
    two.

    Source - The New York Times

    ¶26. Editorial: Challenges of Installing Wind Power in Chile

    April 30, 2008 - Lately, wind powered energy has been on the minds
    of many in Chile. Dozens of projects involving this type of energy
    production are presently being discussed and planned throughout the
    country. Experts speculate that such projects could contribute 400
    MW to the Central Interconnected System (SIC) of national
    electricity. However, developing wind powered energy projects is not
    as easy as it may seem, as there are many technical and market
    conflicts that must be resolved before renewable energy can unfold
    in Chile. First of all, it is necessary to clarify that an optimal
    site for wind power (approximately 50 windmills that would
    contribute 75 MW of power) would in reality only contribute an
    average of about 30 percent of its potential to the system. This
    means that the remaining 70 percent of the time, the windmills would
    be inactive due to lack of wind or an excess of wind.  Another
    problem that wind powered energy projects face is land speculation
    for property suitable for wind installations. The third problem
    these projects face is the precarious land ownership situation that
    affects Chile's rural sectors. Finally, one of the most important
    factors to be considered has to do with the distance of the wind
    power site from the plant where the electricity will be received to
    connect it with the rest of the electrical system.

    Source - Santiago Times

    -------
    General
    -------

    BRASILIA 00000877  016.2 OF 017

    ¶27. Scientists Monitor Eruption's Fallout in Chile

    May 2008 - Palena province, home to some of Chile's most spectacular
    terrain, has literally been under a cloud since the awakening of
    long-dormant Chaiten volcano.  Some experts forecast severe
    environmental damage on account of the eruption, Chaiten's first in
    more than 9,000 years. They say a prolonged eruption could take a
    serious toll on the region's temperate rainforest and cause many
    other problems, ranging from water contamination to worsening of the
    ozone hole.  Chaiten's eruption began May 2, sending ash nine miles
    (15 kms) high in the sky. Hardest hit was the nearby town of
    Chaiten, a community of 7,000 where vegetation, farm animals, and
    buildings were covered daily in thick, white ash. More than 90 miles
    (150 kms) from the volcano, Futaleufu, a popular eco-resort town
    near the river of the same name, was also caked with over 16 inches
    (40 cms) of ash. Those and other communities in the region were
    evacuated.  Pumalin Park, a sprawling, privately owned nature
    preserve whose southern border lies just nine miles (15 kms) north
    of Chaiten, reports minimal damage so far. The eruption has prompted
    the government to announce it will go ahead with the Carretera
    Austral, or Southern Highway, through Pumalin Park. Construction is
    slated to begin in 2011.

    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶28. Chile Enviro Groups Give Bachelet Lukewarm Review

    May 26, 2008 - President Michelle Bachelet's more than two-hour,
    State of the Nation speech on May 21 received cautious approval from
    Chile's leading environmentalists.  The Santiago-based NGO, Chile
    Sustentable, applauded Bachelet's announcement that she will soon
    send bills to Congress calling for the creation of both an
    Environment Ministry and an Energy Ministry. Other positive signs
    from the president's speech included her promise to convert Chile
    into a whale sanctuary, and her strong endorsement of renewable
    energy sources, particularly solar, according to the environmental
    group.  Chile Sustentable, however, lamented the president's failure
    to outline concrete plans for tackling the challenge of climate
    change, protecting the country's rapidly receding glaciers,
    improving Santiago's notoriously dismal air quality, and for

    BRASILIA 00000877  017.2 OF 017

    managing Chile's watersheds.

    Source - Santiago Times

    SOBEL

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