SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 77

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 BRASILIA 001455

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID TBIO ECON SOCI XR BR
SUBJECT: SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 77


1. The following is the seventy-seventh 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

Agriculture
--(3)Newcastle Disease Found In Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil
--(4)Transgenic Food Label Law Passed by Chile's Chamber of
Deputies
--(5)Brazil Promoting Organic Products

Water Issues
--(6)Colombian Communities Resist River-Diversion Plan

Fishing & Marine Conservation
--(7)Chile's Artisan Fishermen Look to Save Trade from Global
Warming and Overfishing

Protected Areas
--(8)Galapagos National Park (At Last) Gets New Director

CDM and M2M
--(9)Brazil a Regional Leader in CDM Projects

Industrialization & Pollution
--(10)Colombian Port Plans Rile Traditional Communities
--(11)Peru: Activists Want Independent Authority to Monitor Doe
Run's Activities
--(12)Brazil Targeting Industrial Air Emissions
--(13)Chile: Greenpeace Blockades Celco Cellulose Plant
--(14)Pascua Lama Approved by Chilean Environmental Authorities

Energy
--(15)U.S. Lawmakers Push Sugar as Fuel Source
--(16)An Energy Field of Dreams

General
--(17)Environment Was Non-Issue in Peru's Presidential Race
--(18)Argentina Names Lawyer as Top Environment Official
--(19)Brazilian Supreme Court Appoints Environmental Advocate

Update on Avian Influenza
--(20)Avian Influenza Knowledge Now (KN): A Web-based Tool for Avian
Influenza Collaboration and Information Management

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Agriculture
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3. Newcastle Disease Found In Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

JULY 07, 2006 - The World Organization For Animal Health, or OIE,
[announced] that a case of Newcastle disease was found on a private
property in Rio Grande do Sul, one of Brazil's most important
chicken producing states. [L]aboratory tests begun in early May on
chickens in the town of Vale Real in Rio Grande do Sul discovered
the virus that causes the disease in one bird. Forty-four chickens
were slaughtered as a result. The discovery was made during the
state's standard animal health monitoring operations, the newswire
reported, citing Agriculture Ministry representative in Rio Grande
do Sul, Francisco Signor.


4. Transgenic Food Label Law Passed by Chile's Chamber of Deputies

JUNE 26, 2006 - The [Chilean] Chamber of Deputies approved on June
21 a law mandating the labeling of transgenic food sold in Chile.
The legislation, which will be voted upon in the Senate the first
week in July, passed with 99 votes in favor, one vote against, and
one abstention. This proposed legislation stipulates the labeling
of food products which are made of at least one percent transgenic
corn or soy bean. Every day staples such as cookies, pastries,
bread, drinks, hot dogs, sausages, olives, and butter would be put
under the provision of this new law. The Deputies' vote reflects
public opinion in Santiago. According to a 2005 study in the greater
Santiago area, 95.5 percent of all citizens want to see genetically
modified foods clearly labeled, while 58.5 percent said that they
would not eat it at all.

Source - Santiago Times (no link)


5. Brazil Promoting Organic Products

JUNE 24, 2006 - A national campaign to promote organic products
began June 23 in Brazil, where at least 20,000 farmers, mostly
running small operations, are dedicated to growing agrochemical-free
crops on a total of 6.5 million hectares. The initiative, lasting
through the end of the month, is headed by four government
ministries, the Brazilian supermarket association ABRAS, and farmer
and consumer organizations. Organic farming moves an estimated 100
million dollars a year in the country, and is growing at a pace of
about 50 percent annually -- more than twice the world average. The
campaign includes seminars, demonstrations, food fairs and the
distribution of information hrough a wide variety of activities.

Source - Terramerica

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Water Issues
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6. Colombian Communities Resist River-Divesion Plan

JUNE 2006 - Nine years after being rebuffed in its first attempt,
Colombia's Energy Company of the Pacific (Epsa) is trying again to

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persuade Afro-Colombian and Nasa Indian communities in the
department of Cauca to allow it to divert the Ovejas River through a
tunnel to the Salvajina hydropower complex. But the project, which
would boost energy output by 15% at the 285-megawatt Salvajina
station, has rekindled opposition in the communities, which say the
diversion would destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of people who
rely on the river for fishing, farming and mining. Community
leaders allege Epsa is misrepresenting river-diversion impacts as it
pushes for local approval of the USD15-20 million project in a
constitutionally-required public consultation later this year. They
also claim the government has yet to fulfill its promise to
compensate 6,000 people who lost their homes and livelihoods when
the Salvajina dam was built on the Cauca River in 1984.

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

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Fishing & Marine Conservation
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7. Chile's Artisan Fishermen Look to Save Trade from Global Warming
and Overfishing

JULY 7, 2006 - In the past few years artisan fishermen from Bahia
Mansa and neighboring communities have started to question the
future of their trade. Catches of nearly every major commercial
species are lower than they were five years ago. Quality, too,
claim the fishermen, has declined. The cause for the diminished
catch is most likely a combination of factors. Rising acidity in
the ocean, an effect of the global buildup of greenhouse gasses, is
a threat to marine populations everywhere. Currents, too, have
shifted, a consequence of major temperature fluctuations on the
ocean's surface, phenomena commonly known as La Nia and El Nio.
To date, however, no studies have measured the effects of these
factors locally. But what can be measured and controlled on
Osorno's coast are direct human actions. Many in Bahia Mansa are
quick to mention the impact of large-scale commercial vessels that
operate farther offshore, scraping the seabed with their wide,
hook-laden nets. Fearing further losses, members of CPALO last week
formalized an agreement with the University of Los Lagos'
Aquaculture Department to help repopulate Osorno's waters. In
addition to the fishermen promising to self-regulate better, the
venture calls for a new hatchery at Bahia Mansa, based at the
University's Metri Center outside of Puerto Montt. The new facility
will be staffed by Aquaculture Department faculty and students, with
priority given to students from or with family still living on
Osorno's coast.

Source - Santiago Times (no link)

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Protected Areas
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8. Galapagos National Park (At Last) Gets New Director

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JUNE 2006 - The new director of Ecuador's Galapagos National Park
has no shortage of early challenges, a crucial one being to find
alternative sources of income for artisanal fishermen, who experts
believe are placing a major strain on the archipelago's marine life.
Raquel Molina Moreira, a 40-year-old biologist who took office last
month, is expected to consider solutions such as allowing paying
tourists to accompany and assist local fishermen. The extra income,
supporters of the idea say, would ease economic pressures on
fishermen-and, thus, on the archipelago's fishery. Molina, to be
sure, has set other priorities as well, among them strengthening
park operations. That task will be aided by a USD150,000 grant from
the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The funds are earmarked
for goals including renovation of the park's organizational
structure and implementation of ISO 14,000 and ISO 18,000
environmental-management standards. The new director also plans to
bolster training of park personnel and expansion of the number of
park guards, which now number around 280.

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

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CDM and M2M
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9. Brazil a Regional Leader in CDM Projects

JUNE 2006 - Brazilian projects loom large in the early stages of the
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM),the Kyoto Protocol program aimed
at promoting greenhouse-gas reductions in developing countries. As
of late May, Brazil ranked second only to India in the number of
projects in the various stages of the CDM approval process, with

145. Among the first five in the world to earn these credits is a
Brazilian project under which methane from decomposing garbage at
the city of Salvador's sole landfill is being captured and flared.
Operated by Bahia Treatment and Residue Transfer (Battre),a private
company that runs the landfill, the project reflects the popularity
of methane-capture as a means of generating gas-reduction credits.
Another CDM-registered project called Novagerar, in the town of Nova
Iguagu, which is on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, also captures
landfill methane. But instead of flaring the gas, Novagerar uses it
to fuel an evaporation system that reduces the landfill's leachate,
which prevents contaminants from entering the water table.

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

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Industrialization & Pollution
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10. Colombian Port Plans Rile Traditional Communities

JUNE 2006 - Colombia is planning to build a series of large
pipeline, road, and port projects over the next decade to open its

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vast Pacific coast to development and trade. But local communities,
fearing injury to their traditions and environment, are mobilizing
to oppose the effort. As an economic alternative, these communities
have been establishing ecotourism businesses, sustainable forestry
operations and other environmentally friendly initiatives that they
hope will give them financial and cultural independence. The
government's highest-priority initiatives, spelled out in a 2005
document by the intra-ministerial National Council for Economic and
Social Policy, are the construction of a USD400-million port in the
Bay of Malaga within five years and of a USD750-million port in the
Gulf of Tribuga within a decade. The plans also include
construction of a 620-mile (1,000-km) oil pipeline from the Gulf of
Maracaibo in northern Venezuela to the port earmarked for the Gulf
of Tribuga.

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


11. Peru: Activists Want Independent Authority to Monitor Doe Run's
Activities

JUNE 2006 - Following a government decision to give Doe Run Peru
more time to rein in pollution caused by its smelter in La Oroya, a
network of Peruvian civic and environmental groups is calling for an
independent environmental authority to step in. The Muqui Network,
comprising some 20 environmental, human rights, church and
social-action groups concerned about mining's community impacts,
wants greater attention paid to health problems in La Oroya. It
advocates the creation of an "independent, autonomous environmental
authority that acts with transparency and seriousness, and that has
the necessary powers." Prompting the network's call was a May 29
decision by the Energy and Mines Ministry that gives Missouri-based
Doe Run's Peruvian subsidiary until Sept. 2008 to install equipment
to capture sulfur dioxide emissions from the plant's lead operation.
The ministry also extended until Oct. 2009 the period within which
Doe Run Peru must install such equipment for its copper operation.

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


12. Brazil Targeting Industrial Air Emissions

JUNE 2006 - Brazilian regulators have stepped up their fight against
industrial air pollution. The National Environmental Council
(Conama) recently drafted the country's first nationwide
air-emissions limits for industry and is expected to approve them in
July for immediate implementation. Meanwhile, the heavily
industrial state of Sao Paulo has set up its first-ever emissions
trading program. Both measures target new industrial facilities and
thus are not expected to bring across-the-board reductions in
industrial air contamination. But experts say they mark a serious
attempt to control industrial air pollution at the state and
national levels.

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

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13. Chile: Greenpeace Blockades Celco Cellulose Plant

JUNE 23, 2006 - Greenpeace activists blockaded the entrance to a
Celulosa Arauco and Constitucion (Celco) plant in Ranquil on June
21, denouncing the company's record of toxic waste dumping. Six
activists dropped a banner from atop a 100-meter boiler that read
"Enough contamination!" while another fourteen chained themselves to
a truck carrying the same slogan. This latest chapter of the
environmental showdown against Celco began June 17 when concerned
farmers, citizens and activists staged a march near the "Nueva
Aldea" complex, located in region VIII in Southern Chile in Ranquil.
Protestors fear that chemical waste dumping from cellulose
production will contaminate the Itata River. Though the plant has
received government permission to begin, activists are calling for a
number of changes to reduce the potential impact of water
contamination. Their demands include a promise that organic
chloride waste will not be dumped into the river and investment in
chlorine-free bleaching technology. Greenpeace issued its demands
in a report that also attacks the practices of Celco's Alto Parana
plant in Argentina.

Source - Santiago Times (no link)


14. Pascua Lama Approved by Chilean Environmental Authorities

JUNE 14, 2006 - Chilean environmental authorities have approved
Barrick Gold's proposed USD 1.5 billion gold project in the Andes
mountains notwithstanding the opposition of environmental groups
concerned about water pollution and other contamination issues. The
proposed mine straddles the Chile/Argentine border, and a final
decision from Argentine environmental authorities is pending.
Experts say that preliminary work at Pascua Lama has already
revealed the kinds of problems that can be expected in the future.
Initial road development has led to sediment filtering into shallow,
underground waterways, compromising the water's cleanliness. A
recent report produced by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Program at the Universidad de Diego Portales (Desc-UDP),warned
against Pascua Lama's "devastating" consequences to community water
rights and the indigenous farmers in the area whose livelihoods
depend on the glacial waters. Barrick, the world's largest mining
company, plans to begin building the mine this September, and to
start producing by 2009. The Pascua-Lama project has reserves of
17.6 million ounces of gold.

Source - MercoPress

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Energy
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15. U.S. Lawmakers Push Sugar as Fuel Source

JUNE 19, 2006 - With the market for corn-based ethanol booming,
lawmakers from sugar-producing states are hoping that beet and cane
growers can soon jump onto the renewable fuel bandwagon. They cite

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the model of Brazil, which produces ethanol made from sugar cane.
But critics, pointing out that sugar is much cheaper in Brazil than
in the United States, question whether the economics of sugar-based
ethanol would work in America. Jack Roney, an economist with the
American Sugar Alliance, agreed that the government would need to
step in to stimulate a sugar-to-ethanol industry. ''It would take a
combination of consumption mandates to ensure that the demand would
be there, and conceivably some production incentives to use sugar
ethanol,'' he said. ''The way that the Brazilians established their
program is through 30 years of government intervention in energy and
agriculture markets, to ensure there would be adequate demand and
supplies.''

Source - NYT


16. An Energy Field of Dreams

JUNE 17, 2006 - "Be like Brazil" have never been words to live by
except perhaps in soccer or samba. But suddenly Americans are being
told we should imitate Brazil in its expensive devotion to driving
cars that run on ethanol. VeraSun Energy, the second-largest U.S.
ethanol producer, was the talk of Wall Street. Wal-Mart wants to
install pumps to cater to cars that run on a largely ethanol blend.
Even Rudy Giuliani was plumping for the stuff, a sign that an Iowa
campaign stop may be in his future. We'd say the world had gone
mad, except that this is a fairly typical case study in how
political meddling distorts energy markets. Weary of high gas
prices, drivers can be forgiven for desiring a "miracle" fuel that
is allegedly cheap and clean. The most widely cited research on
this subject comes from Cornell's David Pimental and Berkeley's Ted
Patzek. They've found that it takes more than a gallon of fossil
fuel to make one gallon of ethanol -- 29 percent more. That's
because it takes enormous amounts of fossil-fuel energy to grow corn
(using fertilizer and irrigation),to transport the crops and then
to turn that corn into ethanol.

Source - Wall Street Journal

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General
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17. Environment Was Non-Issue in Peru's Presidential Race

JUNE 2006 - In a country where community groups have blocked mining
and oil-drilling projects and a metals smelter has left local
children with high blood lead levels, one might expect the
environment to get air-time during a presidential campaign. Not so
in Peru, where green issues received scant attention in the
presidential race won June 4 by former President Alan Garcia. The
environment did not figure in campaign platforms, was glossed over
in press conferences and drew not a single mention in the lone
presidential debate. Garcia, who takes office on July 28, has
hinted about his stances on certain issues. Meeting foreign
reporters this month, he said foreign companies operating in Peru
must meet the standards that apply in their home countries. Garcia

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was less emphatic about reinforcing Peru's top environmental agency,
the National Environment Council (Conam). The head of Conam reports
to the office of the Cabinet chief, but does not have a seat in the
Cabinet.

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


18. Argentina Names Lawyer as Top Environment Official

JUNE 27, 2006 - President Nestor Kirchner named a lawyer who has led
Argentina's legal battle against a pulp mill project in neighboring
Uruguay as the country's top environmental official. Cabinet Chief
Alberto Fernandez announced the appointment of Romina Picolotti, a
recent winner of a leading environmental prize (Sophie Prize) for
her work throughout Latin America to halt environmental degradation.
Picolotti, 35, recently formed part of an Argentine legal team
challenging the construction of two giant pulp mills on the Uruguay
river bordering both countries.

Source - Reuters News. Article kindly shared by US Embassy Buenos
Aires


19. Brazilian Supreme Court Appoints Environmental Advocate

JUNE 29, 2006 - Antonio Herman Benjamin, founder of the Brazilian
NGO Instituto O Direito por Um Planeta Verde and Co-chair of
INECE*'s Executive Planning Committee, has been appointed by
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to become a Justice on the
Supreme Federal Court of Brazil. Mr. Benjamin teaches Environmental
Law and Products Liability in both Brazil and the United States;
founded and serves as Coeditor-In-Chief of the Brazilian
Environmental Law Journal, the only regular environmental law review
in Latin America; and has drafted or co-drafted several Brazilian
laws, including the 1998 Crimes against the Environment Act, the
Forest Code, and the Anti-Corruption Act.

* International Network for Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement

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


20. Avian Influenza Knowledge Now (KN): A Web-based Tool for Avian
Influenza
Collaboration and Information Management

The USAID Avian and Human Influenza Response Unit is sponsoring the
development of Avian Influenza Knowledge Now (AIKN),an internet
portal designed to facilitate interagency information flows, reduce
dependence on strained email systems, and increase access to key
documents related to USG international response efforts. AIKN will
be managed and hosted by USAID's AI Unit in coordination with the
State Department's Avian Influenza Action Group (G/AIAG),USAID
regional bureaus in Washington, and field staff around the world,

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and will be open to participation by other USG agencies and
colleagues involved in the international response. The launch of
the site is anticipated in August, 2006.

WILLIAMSON