SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 75

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 13 BRASILIA 001079

SIPDIS

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: MZWEEDE
INTERIOR FOR DIR INT AFFAIRS: K WASHBURN
INTERIOR FOR FWS: TOM RILEY
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 75


1. The following is the seventy-fifth 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.


2. Table of Contents

Health
--(3)On Chile's Easter Island: Fungus Provides a Possible Cancer
Drug

Water Issues
--(4)U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Changes Standards for Dam Licensing

Forests
--(5)Brazil: Eucalyptus Called into Question Yet Again

Wildlife
--(6)Argentina Against Bird Trafficking
--(7)Colombia: 'Extinct' Frog Comes Back To Life
--(8)Venezuela: Parakeets Endangered on Margarita Island
--(9)100 Oil-Coated Penguins Dead In Argentina

Fishing & Marine Conservation
--(10)Award for Peru's Wildlife Pioneer
--(11)Peruvian Authorities Identify Illegal Fishing Activities

Protected Areas
--(12)Peru Earmarks Area for Conservation
--(13)Galapagos Feeling Population, Tourism Pressures
--(14)Chilean wilderness Area Attracts Upscale U.S. Investment

Industrialization & Pollution
--(15)Now the Spotlight Turns to Argentina's Pulp Mills
--(16)Pulp Mill Debate: Populism or Genuine Concern?
--(17)Clean Air Plan for Santiago Fails
--(18)Brazil Demands for Better Control of Chemical Spills
--(19)Ecuadorian State Oil Company Accused of Polluting

Urban Waste Management
--(20)Governor of Sao Paulo State Signs Solid-Waste Legislation
--(21)Brazil: Environmentalists Challenge Garbage Burning
--(22)Argentina: Transforming Garbage into Decent Jobs

Energy
--(23)Brazil Launches Facility for Uranium Enrichment

General
--(24)USAID Supports Project for Sustainable Development of the
Paraguay Chaco

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--(25)Amazon 'Stonehenge' found in Brazil
--(26)Youths to Live an Amazon Adventure

Avian Influenza Update
--(27)U.S. to Finance Avian Flu Prevention in Brazil & Other
Countries
--(28)The FAO/OIE Avian Influenza Crisis Management Center

(29) SPECIAL: (Q&A) Former IDB official critical of new highway's
planning

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Health
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3. On Chile's Easter Island: Fungus Provides a Possible Cancer Drug

MAY 16, 2006 - A recent study by the Clinical Journal of the
American Society of Nephrology revealed that the drug "rapamycin" -
sourced from an Easter Island fungus - halves the risk of cancer in
kidney transplant patients. The drug also proved successful in
reducing cancerous tumors. The drug was first discovered in 1975 as
a product of the bacterium "Streptomyces hygroscopicus in a soil
sample from Easter Island. The fungus was discovered to have
antibiotic properties and was originally developed as an antifungal
agent. It was not until 1987, when the Canadian university Mc Gill
found that the fungus had far greater medicinal potential, that
researches discovered the drug's potent immunosuppressive and
antiproliferative properties. In other words, it could fight organ
rejection in transplant patients and cancer treatment.

Source - Santiago Times (no link)

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Water Issues
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4. U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Changes Standards for Dam Licensing

MAY 15, 2006 - In a victory for clean water and wildlife, the
Supreme Court today affirmed that states may mandate dam licenses to
ensure that dams do not pollute, impair fishing, swimming or
drinking water. "The Court's decision is a landmark decision
interpreting the Clean Water Act, one which guarantees the authority
of states to protect our rivers and streams from the damage caused
by dams," says David Mears, a professor at the Environmental and
Natural Resources Law Clinic at Vermont Law School. The ruling, a
9-0 opinion, found that operating a dam results in a "discharge into
navigable waters." The ruling affirmed that states have authority
under the Clean Water Act to require federal dam relicensing comply
with state standards that protect water quality. The case involved
a hydroelectric dam on the Presumpscot River in southern Maine. In
1999, S.D. Warren, which operates the dam, applied for relicensing
of the dam with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The state
of Maine, pursuant to its water quality certification authority
under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, required that the dam

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maintain minimum stream flows to protect fish and eel populations.
S.D. Warren appealed, claiming that merely running water through a
dam did not result in a "discharge," which triggers a states ability
to certify a dam for water quality compliance during FERC
relicensing, because nothing was added to the water. S.D. Warren
lost in state court, and appealed the Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court explicitly ruled that for state water quality certification to
be triggered, nothing needed to be added to the water. The mere
passing of water through the dam resulted in a discharge.

For more information please visit the National Wildlife Federation
website

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Forests
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5. Brazil: Eucalyptus Called into Question Yet Again

MAY 20, 2006 - Brazil's Ministry of Environment will promote
planting of eucalyptus in order to contain deforestation in the
eastern Amazon, where 14 steel mills process iron ore from the
Sierra de Carajas using charcoal made from the native forests. But
the idea is running up against environmentalists and peasant
farmers, who are launching an offensive against the "green deserts"
of the pulp industry, which is based on the fast-growing eucalyptus
trees. The same argument of forest preservation was made for
eucalyptus and the iron industry in the southern state of Minas
Gerais, but deforestation continued anyway, Winfried Overbeek, with
FASE, a non-governmental group associated with the Latin American
Network Against Tree Monoculture, told Tierramerica. The risk is
that it will degenerate into forest monoculture, said Paulo
Moutinho, of the Amazonian Institute of Environmental Research.

Source - Tierramerica

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Wildlife
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6. Argentina Against Bird Trafficking

MAY 20, 2006 - The Argentine Wildlife Directorate stepped up
operations against the illegal sales of wild bird species that are
endangered or whose populations are much reduced. Directorate chief
Daniel Ramadori told Tierramerica that the birds being poached are
traded on the side of a legal wild animal trade fair that takes
place in the southern Buenos Aires district of Nueva Pompeya. In
the sting, officials recovered yellow cardinals (Gubernatrix
cristata),black-backed grosbeaks (Pheucticus aureoventris) and
chopi blackbirds (Gnorimopsar chopi),among other protected species.


Source - Tierramerica


7. Colombia: 'Extinct' Frog Comes Back To Life

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MAY 19, 2006 - Scientists have sighted a spectacular South American
frog which had been feared extinct for a decade. The painted frog
is found only in a small remote region of Colombia, and the last
sighting dates back to 1995. Conservationists believed it had gone
extinct, principally due to a fungal disease, chytridiomycosis,
which has caused enormous harm to many species. The team behind the
rediscovery says it gives hope that other amphibians may be able to
survive fungal attack. Chytridiomycosis is the main reason behind
the worldwide decline in amphibians, which sees about one third of
all species threatened with extinction. The Andes provides a graphic
illustration of how devastating it can be. In this "hotspot" of
amphibian diversity which includes parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
and Venezuela, 42 of the 113 species of Atelopus have experienced
population declines of up to 50 percent.

Source - BBC


8. Venezuela: Parakeets Endangered on Margarita Island

MAY 13, 2006 - Fewer than 20 blue-crowned parakeets (Aratinga
acuticaudata neoxena) survive in the mangroves of La Restinga Park,
on Venezuela's Margarita Island, in the Caribbean. The species is in
grave danger of extinction, biologist Marialejandra Faria, of the
environmental group Provita, told Tierramerica. This is due to "the
degradation of its habitat, the growth of neighboring populations,
but also to poaching of the birds for pets," said Faria. "We could
try a program to hatch eggs in captivity, but we don't have the
resources," she said. Provita has launched a program for young
biologists involving 17 environmental organizations and 400
schoolchildren on Margarita, seeking to raise awareness about
preserving the habitat of the blue-crowned parakeet and the
yellow-shouldered Amazon parrot, whose population has grown from 750
to 1,900 in the past 17 years.

Source - Tierramerica


9. 100 Oil-Coated Penguins Dead In Argentina

MAY 11, 2006 - Authorities reported some 70 of the dead Magellanic
penguins were found at the Cabo Virgenes nature reserve on the
Straits in the remote province of Santa Cruz. But environmentalists
said they also found 31 of the wide-ranging migratory penguins dead
off the Atlantic coast, some 375 miles southeast of Buenos Aires.
The Argentine Coast Guard said it was sending flights in search of
oil spills, but reported finding none that could have caused the
birds coated in black crude to begin arriving on shores off the
Straits of Magellan. "This is very worrisome. We don't know the
source," said Francisco Anglesio, environmental undersecretary for
Santa Cruz province where the deaths occurred, speaking with
reporters in southern Argentina.

Source - article kindly shared by US Embassy Buenos Aires. Original
source Washington Post

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Fishing & Marine Conservation
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10. Award for Peru's Wildlife Pioneer

MAY 11, 2006 - A conservationist who has spent 25 years trying to
protect Peru's marine wildlife has won a top UK environment prize,
the Whitley Gold Award. Patricia Majluf researched and then
campaigned against the impact of anchovy fishing off the Peruvian
coast. High catches have affected dolphins, sea lions and birds
such as pelicans. "We hope the award will help [Dr Majluf] in her
fight to bring an end to unsustainable fishing practices along this
globally important coastline," said Edward Whitley, founder and
chairman of the Whitley Fund for Nature.

Source - BBC


11. Peruvian Authorities Identify Illegal Fishing Activities

MAY 19, 2006 - The Regional Production Directory of the Department
of Pisco identified during a two-week raid that all thirteen fish
meal factories in the ports of Pisco and Tambo de Mora extract and
process juvenile fish that have not reached the acceptable age or
size; all thirteen will be fined. According to the press report,
local artisanal fishermen supported the intervention. The report
points out that the factories are also exceeding fishing quotas.

Source - El Comercio

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Protected Areas
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12. Peru Earmarks Area for Conservation

MAY 2006 - More than 3.7 million acres (1.5 million hectares) of
land in the Sierra del Divisor region along the Peruvian-Brazilian
border has been designated a reserved zone, a conservation category
intended to protect important ecosystems while studies are conducted
to determine their ultimate status. Peru's Agriculture Ministry set
aside the land last month in the departments of Ucayali and Loreto.
The area includes 681,183 acres (275,665 hectares) that already have
been declared a territorial reserve for the Isconahua indigenous
people, who have only sporadic contact with the outside world. The
new reserve abuts the 2.1-million-acre (850,000- hectare) Serra do
Divisor National Park in Acre, Brazil, which was created in 1989.
The region's name-Sierra del Divisor in Spanish and Serra do Divisor
in Portuguese-reflects the mountainous area's role in separating the
watersheds of Peru's middle Ucayali River basin and Brazil's upper
Jurua River basin.

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


13. Galapagos Feeling Population, Tourism Pressures

MAY 2006 - Conservation worries about the Galapagos Islands have

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heightened in the wake of a controversial cruise-ship visit and an
international delegation's trip to the archipelago to assess the
state of environmental protection efforts. The delegation,
comprising experts from Unesco and the World Conservation Union
(IUCN),met in March with a variety of Galapagos stakeholders to
gather information for a report for Unesco's World Heritage
Committee. The Unesco panel is expected to use the report to decide
in July whether to list the Galapagos as a threatened heritage site,
a move that could damage the islands' pristine image, potentially
affecting tourism and international-cooperation programs. A prime
focus of tourism concerns are cruise ships, and fears that their
high-volume visits will aggravate problems ranging from the
trampling of island terrain to the introduction of exotic species.
Debate about the issue intensified here when the MV Discovery, a
cruise ship operated by U.S.-based Discovery World Cruises, visited
the Galapagos from April 28 to May 2 with 324 passengers and 314
crew.

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


14. Chilean wilderness Area Attracts Upscale U.S. Investment

MAY 24, 2006 - Foreign investors have triggered a real estate boom
in the wilderness area around the Region X town of Chaiten, with
land purchases in the fertile territory between Futaleufu and Palena
Rivers reaching prices upwards of USD 20,000 per hectare (about USD
10,000 per acre). The ex-patriot community - composed mainly of
real estate investors, rafting fanatics and environmental activists
- hopes to initiate eco-tourism projects that will throttle plans to
build a series of dams on both rivers. The mostly North Americans
and European ex-pats have purchased small properties ranging from
one to 100 hectares, and shied away from investments in large
properties. Most of the sales are close to the banks of the Palena
and Futaleufu Rivers - both slated to be dammed by an international
power consortium.

Source - Santiago Times (no link)

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Industrialization & Pollution
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15. Now the Spotlight Turns to Argentina's Pulp Mills

MAY 20, 2006 - The environmental impacts of the approximately 30
factories producing pulp and paper in Argentina are many, and a
seemingly endless source of conflict. With challenges simmering
against the construction of two large pulp mills in neighboring
Uruguay, the Argentine companies are on the defensive. The entire
sector in Argentina produces some 900,000 tons of pulp annually,
based on different technologies and raw materials. The largest and
most questioned mills are located on the Parana River, in the
northeast. Since March, Paraguay has filed suit against Argentina
for the alleged lack of wastewater treatment by the pulp mills Alto
Parana, Celulosa Puerto Piray and Benfide, in the northeastern

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province of Misiones, on their shared border. Alfredo Molinas,
environment minister of Paraguay, said on May 12 that his country
will insist that the problem "be resolved through diplomacy, without
the need to escalate to a dispute." The environmental watchdog
group Greenpeace will disseminate a report at the end of the month
about the paper and pulp industry in Argentina, where, it says, no
company in that sector sets a positive example, but rather all pose
problems.

Source - Tierramerica


16. Pulp Mill Debate: Populism or Genuine Concern?

MAY 16, 2005 - The Argentine government has taken a stand against
two wood pulp mills being constructed in Uruguay's Rio Negro
department because it claims that the plants will pollute the
Uruguay river, but there is feeling that the motives may not be
quite as altruistic as they seem. [...] deputies on the lower
chamber's natural resources committee recently backed an
environmental impact law that has been neglected for some seven
years. If passed, this bill would oblige all types of potentially
polluting industries to carry out environmental impact studies
before permission for construction would be granted. The law could
be approved by the chamber of deputies within a month before heading
to the senate for ratification. Certainly, this would be an
improvement to the current legislation, but might not be quite so
much help where plants that pollute the environment have already
been built and are in operation.

Source - Business News Americas (please contact Larissa Stoner for
complete article)


17. Clean Air Plan for Santiago Fails

MAY 20, 2006 - The failure of the plan proposed in 2000 to clean up
the air in the Chilean capital, home to five million people, is one
of the biggest challenges facing new President Michelle Bachelet,
who took office in March. So far in 2006, Santiago has seen one day
of environmental "pre-emergency" and several days with alerts issued
in response to increased air pollution, which result in restrictions
on vehicle circulation and shut-downs of boilers and other sources
of emissions, and even bans on outdoor sports activities at schools.
The critical conditions brought by the climate phenomenon known as
La Nia, with scant rain and low temperatures, brought to the fore
the environmental vulnerability of the capital, as warned by at
least two reports from international auditors, which pointed to
shortfalls in many of the measures of the Atmospheric
Decontamination and Prevention Plan (PPDA) pledged in 2000.
According to sources in the business sector, the pre-emergency
declared on Friday, May 12, resulted in economic losses of 3.9
million dollars, due to the shutdown of 596 factories and 320,000
vehicles, including 120,000 cars with "green seals", which run on
unleaded gasoline.

Source - Tierramerica


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18. Brazil Demands for Better Control of Chemical Spills

MAY 13, 2006 - An inter-ministerial committee in Brazil has proposed
a system that would obligate companies, ports and entities that
handle chemical products to notify authorities about spills, given
their serious threats to local populations. The environmental
legislation would require immediate notification, and would punish
inaction, but in many cases the gasoline stations -- the main source
of such accidents -- discover the spills when they are already
serious and have contaminated underground water sources, for
example, says geologist Katia Duarte, who investigated the issue in
Brasilia while researching her doctoral thesis, completed in 2003.
From 1978 to 2005, in Sao Paulo, the only Brazilian state to
systematically monitor chemical spills, there were 6,303 such
accidents recorded -- one-third involved liquid fuels. An
obligatory reporting system for spills is crucial for the
effectiveness of the national plan adopted in 2004 to prevent
environmental emergencies involving toxic chemicals.

Source - Tierramerica


19. Ecuadorian State Oil Company Accused of Polluting

MAY 2006 - The Ecuadorian Comptroller General has rekindled
criticism of oil operations in Ecuador by accusing Petroproduccion,
a subsidiary of the state oil company Petroecuador, and three
contractors of pollution violations in the Amazon region. The
report, made public last month, draws on an environmental audit of
oil operations in Orellana and Sucumbios provinces from June 1, 2000
to Aug. 30, 2004. The audit, by the comptroller's Directorate of
Public Works Control, found Petroproduccion released 83 million
gallons of production water in the two provinces, contaminating
water resources. Production water, which can include oil and heavy
metals, comes to the surface with crude during oil operations. The
findings are under review, but Comptroller Genaro Pena says the
report seems to justify prosecution of current and former employees
of Petroproduccion and of its contractors. Jorge Dutan, Amazon
superintendent for Petroproduccion, says treating production water
is unnecessary because the company injects the water back
underground. He adds, however, that he only can speak for the period
he has been in his post, which is less than a year.

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

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Urban Waste Management
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20. Governor of Sao Paulo State Signs Solid-Waste Legislation

MAY 2006 - The governor of Brazil's heavily industrial state of Sao
Paulo has signed the state's first law devoted exclusively to
solid-waste management. The law, signed March 16 by Gov. Geraldo
Alckmin after clearing the state Assembly last December, marks a bid
to improve trash handling and disposal by solid-waste generators

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including municipalities, industrial plants and hospitals. The
legislation formally took effect with the governor's signature.
However, the Sao Paulo state Environmental Secretariat still must
draft rules governing the measure's implementation. Sao Paulo's new
law covers the handling and disposal of all types of solid waste,
from organic and inorganic residential trash and hospital waste to
recyclable products and hazardous industrial refuse. The
legislation was considered necessary because Brazil has no national
solid-waste-management law-a situation that has prompted other
states to pass their own measures, says Sao Paulo state Assemblyman
Rodolfo Costa e Silva, who oversaw passage of the bill.

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


21. Brazil: Environmentalists Challenge Garbage Burning

MAY 13, 2006 - The "Usina Verde" project seeks to generate energy in
Brazil while eliminating urban waste and helping to reduce global
warming. But its good intentions have not won over environmental
groups because the plan involves burning the garbage. The pilot
plant of the project, which involves capital from a private company
of the same name, began operations in May 2005 in Rio de Janeiro and
is already converting 30 tons of garbage a day into 2.6 megawatts of
energy. The sponsors of Usina Verde hope to sell facilities like
the Rio de Janeiro plant to municipalities throughout the country.
The project, one of 72 already approved by the Brazilian
Inter-Ministerial Committee on Global Climate Change, now has to go
through the United Nations before it can become part of the carbon
market system.

Source - Tierramerica


22. Argentina: Transforming Garbage into Decent Jobs

MAY 16, 2006 - A new law on Integral Management of Solid Urban Waste
went into effect in late 2005. The law stipulates that the amount
of garbage in landfills is to be reduced by 50 percent by 2012 and
75 percent by 2017, from 2003 levels. To reach that goal, the
Buenos Aires city government has sponsored the organization of
cooperatives of garbage scavengers and provided space for the first
warehouse, located on the west side of the city and inaugurated on
May 1, International Labor Day. It has also launched a pilot
garbage separation program in buildings more than 20 stories high,
public offices, five-star hotels, and housing, businesses and
offices in the exclusive Buenos Aires district of Puerto Madero, on
the Rio de la Plata coast.

Source - article kindly shared by US Embassy Buenos Aires. Original
source Inter Press Service.

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Energy
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23. Brazil Launches Facility for Uranium Enrichment

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MAY 08, 2006 - With Western opposition to Iran's nuclear ambitions
continuing to make the headlines, Brazil recently launched its first
plant for 'enriching' uranium to use as fuel in nuclear power
stations. Science minister Sergio Rezende stressed that the move
was only for peaceful purposes and was part of the government's
plans to produce enough uranium for its nuclear power stations by

2014. Brazil has the world's sixth largest reserves of uranium, but
until now has had to send uranium to be processed in Canada and
Europe before being able to use it at its two nuclear power
stations. In recent years, Brazil has been pouring money into its
nuclear program. Between 2003 and 2006 its budget increased from USD
34.5 million to USD 113.2 million.

Source - SciDev

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General
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24. USAID Supports Project for Sustainable Development of the
Paraguay Chaco

MAY 22, 2006 - In cooperation with USAID and the European Union, the
Fundacion para el Desarollo Sostenible del Chaco (DeSdel Chaco) was
able to put together a series of map of the macrozones and soil
quality of the departments (provinces) of Alto Paraguay and
Boqueron. These maps, presented during an event sponsored by
Paraguay's environmental secretariat SEAM on May 5, will be an
important tool to evaluate investment and production priorities for
the Chaco region and guarantee the sustainable development of the
departments.

Source - kindly shared by US Embassy Asuncion


25. Amazon 'Stonehenge' found in Brazil

MAY 15, 2006 - Brazilian scientists have made a discovery, which may
totally change the opinion that the Amazon area has never been
populated by highly developed civilizations. Amapa State
archaeologists have found an assembly of stones, nicknamed the
Amazon Stonehenge after the famed stone circle in Britain. One
hundred and twenty-seven granite blocks are arranged at an equal
distance from one another on a flat surface 390 kilometers away from
the administrative center of the Amapa state, Macapa. It is yet hard
to say when and why the stones might have been arranged in the
peculiar manner, but excavations may give an answer. So far, their
age is estimated at 500 to 2,000 years. A local archaeologist said
that it might have been an ancient astronomic observatory, as one of
the stones marked the position of the Sun on the winter solstice
day. It is also possible that Brazilian natives might have used the
stone calendar for economic purposes. It is known that many Indian
tribes started sowing in strict compliance with the position of
stars. The time of religious rites was also dependent on the skies.
Researchers do not doubt that only a highly developed civilization
could have arranged the stones.

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26. Youths to Live an Amazon Adventure

MAY 13, 2006 - Some 45 students from Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia,
Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and French Guyana will
retrace the same route followed by Spanish explorer Francisco de
Orellana along the Amazon River in 1541 and 1542. The expedition,
designed by the Organization of the Amazonian Cooperation Treaty
(OTCA),will depart from Quito on June 24 and is scheduled to arrive
in Brasilia on July 27. "The main objective is to encourage the
kids to love and protect the Amazon. The important thing is that
they are from different countries and speak different languages,
which ensure the project's multiplier effect," OTCA secretary
general Rosalia Arteaga told Tierramerica. The students will be
accompanied by 27 teachers and professionals from various fields,
and will take part in cultural and scientific activities.

Source - Tierramerica

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Avian Influenza Update
--------------


27. U.S. to Finance Avian Flu Prevention in Brazil & Other Countries


MAY 23, 2006 - A widely-circulated Brazilian daily reports that in a
few days the USG will announce plans to invest in the production of
avian flu vaccines, as well as training and development of
monitoring mechanisms for that disease in Brazil, throughout Latin
America and 17 other countries. Resources include the development
of a vaccine at Sao Paulo's Butanta Institute. Story notes that
investment in Latin America is part of the U.S. strategy to defend
its mainland against the disease. "It's in the U.S. interest that
countries in our neighborhood be prepared," said William Steiger,
Special Assistant to the Secretary for International Affairs at the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Source - Public Affairs US Embassy Brasilia. See also original
article in Portuguese


28. The FAO/OIE Avian Influenza Crisis Management Center

MAY 17, 2006 - In a meeting on May 8 with selected donors, FAO and
OIE presented a final proposal for the establishment of the FAO-OIE
Avian Influenza Crisis Management Center (CMC). The CMC is the
fruit of months of close collaboration between the USG and FAO. The
U.S. pledges of financial support, USD 1.2 million from USDA and USD
3.0 million from USAID, were the only pledges received during the
meeting. Nevertheless, FAO will move ahead with its ambitious
schedule to have key elements of the CMC operational within the next
few weeks. The CMC will provide FAO with the means to fulfill its
responsibility as the UN-designated global coordinator for the
emergency response to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). One
of the key features of the CMC is the capacity to dispatch
multi-disciplinary rapid response and assessment teams to avian

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influenza-affected areas. The establishment of the CMC should help
to alleviate persistent problems with coordination among donors and
international organizations of assessment and response missions.

Source - UN ROME 00000030


29. SPECIAL: (Q&A) Former IDB official critical of new highway's
planning
**Please contact Larissa Stoner for EcoAmericas article on the
Interoceanic Highway**

(Source - EcoAmericas) Peruvian agronomist and forestry expert Marc
Dourojeanni is a former professor and head of the Forestry
Department at the La Molina Agricultural University in Lima. He
also has worked in Peru's Ministry of Agriculture and, most
recently, in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). At the IDB,
Dourojeanni headed the environment division from 1990 to 1995 and
served as the principal environment advisor from 1995 until retiring
in 2002. Dourojeanni has argued for years that paving the Peruvian
stretch of the Interoceanic Highway linking Brazil with the Pacific
Coast would cause impacts similar to those experienced in the
Brazilian Amazon, where wholesale deforestation followed highway
construction. Now a private consultant based in Braslia, Brazil,
Dourojeanni is currently working on a case study of the highway for
the Bank Information Center, a non-profit watchdog in Washington,
D.C. He spoke with EcoAmericas correspondent Barbara Fraser at a
recent highway-project conference in Cusco, Peru.

What is the focus of your study of the Interoceanic Highway for the
Bank Information Center?
It's a case study so that people can understand the enormous
confusion that exists. People outside [Peru] think the highway cuts
through virgin forest. They don't know that there has been [an
unpaved] road there for 20 years. People outside think everyone
opposes it, when everyone is in favor. People outside don't know
that Peru's legislation is terrible. The idea is to produce a
background document that can help [local community groups] back up
their positions, criticisms, requests for financial support, etc.
A major concern about the highway is the lack of funding for
mitigation of environmental impacts.
Peru is the only country in Latin America that has never [sought] an
environmental loan from the World Bank, IDB or Andean Development
Corporation. Brazil has a portfolio of environmental loans. All
Peru has gotten is a USD 5 million loan imposed by the IDB [as a
condition] for Camisea [a gas project in the southern Amazon] and
this little USD 17 million project [financed by CAF, to mitigate the
highway's environmental impact]. Those are the only environmental
loans in Peru's history, while Bolivia has huge environmental loans
and an environment ministry financed by the IDB. Argentina has
large environmental loans; Colombia has loans for mangrove swamps;
Ecuador has loans for the Galapagos Islands and coastal management.

Why hasn't Peru pursued assistance for environmental mitigation?
Peru's government disparages environmental matters and sees them as
"gringo issues" or something that should be financed by donations.
It seems the Peruvian government thinks this area should be handled

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by donations-it's somebody else's problem, not theirs.
So the issue goes beyond the highway, to a need for the country to
look at the environment differently?
Everything that has happened with the Interoceanic Highway is linked
to the poor quality of Peruvian legislation on environmental impact
evaluation. In Brazil, if you wanted to build an Interoceanic
Highway, you'd have to do a feasibility study and an environmental
impact assessment (EIA) in three licensing stages. Neither the
World Bank, the IDB nor the Brazilian government would authorize
work to start until the EIAs are approved. And they're approved by
Ibama [the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable
Natural Resources], which doesn't fall under the Agriculture
Ministry [as its Peruvian counterpart, Inrena, does], but under the
Environment Ministry. The only [Peruvian] agency involved is the
Transportation Ministry, and not a single EIA has been formally
approved. The winners of the bid have been ordered to do the EIA,
but they've been allowed to do it in 100-kilometer stretches so they
can start working. In Brazil, when Ibama issues an environmental
license, it issues a list of recommendations to be implemented by
various ministries. The underlying problem is Peru's legislation,
which is a disaster.
What can be done at this late stage, since construction on the
project is already beginning?
In terms of the highway itself, the only thing we can hope is that
local organizational efforts are successful and lead to
international support, even though it will be fragmented. At least
that would be a chance to avoid the worst. I'm not very optimistic,
though. I don't believe there's much that can be done.
Should there be a moratorium on roads in the Amazon?
No. When a road is built in the middle of Yellowstone National Park
[in the United States], the law says that the forest will be kept
along the road, and the forest is kept. In Malaysia, there are
paved highways with forests that have been managed for 70 years or
more on one side and small farms on the other. No farmer would ever
cross the road to cut down trees. There's discipline. The history
of Latin America is a history of laws and more laws that no one
enforces.
The Interoceanic Highway is part of the Initiative for the
Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA).
What is your view of the larger project?
IIRSA was launched by the 12 South American presidents [at a summit
in Brasilia in 2000], but it actually has been shamelessly promoted
by the IDB and CAF so they can lend money. It's a way of investing.
All the ministries have dusted off their old projects and selected
a huge portfolio. Now the World Bank has gotten involved, too,
which is good, because the World Bank will be more prudent. It's
just a package of public works involving roads, energy
interconnection and telecommunications.
What environmental impact do you foresee?
It will be huge, because there's no strategic evaluation of IIRSA.
They're starting to do studies in Brazil for the Madeira River
hydroelectric project, which is part of IIRSA South, which also
includes the Interoceanic Highway. They've barely begun the
studies, and there's already a lot of resistance in Brazil even to
doing the studies. But [the projects] are going to be done.
CHICOLA