SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 80

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 BRASILIA 001787

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: LIZ MAHEW
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 80


1. The following is the eightieth 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)Coffee with a Conscientious Kick
--(4)Venezuela's Chocolate Revolution

Health
--(5)Brazil to Boost Health Research Capacity in Angola

Water Issues
--(6)Workshop Discusses Regional View of the Amazon Basin

Forests
--(7)Brazil Arrests 46 in Logging Crackdown
--(8)Selective Logging Leads to Clear-Cutting In Amazon

Wildlife
--(9)Study in Venezuela Shows: Single Fish Species Controls Health
of Tropical River
--(10)Chile Lacks Legislation Against Biopiracy

Fishing & Marine Conservation
--(11)Brazil: A Traditional Fishery Flounders in the Wake of
Technology
--(12)Venezuela: Love for the Mangrove

Science & Technology
--(13)Brazil, Bolivia to Exchange Meteorological Data
Pollution
--(14)Peru: Indigenous Community to Take Oil Company to Court
--(15)Three Northern Cities Contaminated By Petcoke
--(16)Chile: Clean Release of the Last Oil-Contaminated Penguins

Climate Change
--(17)Cities, States Aren't Waiting For U.S. Action on Climate
--(18)Greenland's Melting Ice Sheet May Speed Rise in Sea Level

Energy
--(19)Brazil: Innovative Hydrogen Buses

General
--(20)Brazil: Can a Road Save the Amazon?
--(21)Brazil: Traditionals to Have Own Policies
--(22)Argentina: Stop Atomic Credits
--(23)Brazil: Controversial Tires

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--(24)Brazil's New Environmental Court

Update on Avian Influenza
--(25)Brazilian Agriculture Ministry Issues Conflicting Information
About Avian Flu Virus
--(26)Avian Influenza in Venezuela: Dialogue, Outreach, and Post
Preparedness

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Agriculture
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3. Coffee with a Conscientious Kick

AUG. 15, 2006 - As consumers in the developed world become more
interested in food origins and production conditions, certification
systems hold out the promise of allowing retailers to source
reasonably priced products - from timber and cotton to chocolate and
bananas - that guarantee social and environmental standards in the
poor countries in which they are produced. While some analysts see
Fairtrade as destined to remain more of a niche product,
certifications such as Rainforest Alliance and Utz Kapeh - a Dutch
organization supported by Ahold, the world's fourth-largest food
retailer and distributor - are aimed at making certified coffee
mainstream. The strengths of each certification are different:
Fairtrade aims to give producers more control over production,
Rainforest Alliance stresses biodiversity and ecosystem protection,
while Utz Kapeh focuses on traceability and food safety. Peru is
well placed to take advantage of all three. Agricultural reform in
the 1970s means its coffee sector is dominated by smallholders, many
of whom are organic by default, having never been able to afford
chemical fertilizers. Coffee is Peru's most important agricultural
crop, and the country is now the world's top organic producer, the
top Fairtrade producer and in the next few years is on track to
become the biggest source of Rainforest Alliance and Utz
Kapeh-certified coffee.

Source - Kindly shared by U.S. Embassy Bogota


4. Venezuela's Chocolate Revolution

AUG. 01, 2006 - The type of agriculture being used just outside the
village of Ocumare de la Costa, is having a big impact on the
farming community and its families. Ocumare is just one of several
communities in Venezuela to have switched from conventional to
organic farming and they are now reaping the rewards. [Producers]
now earn about USD7 for a kilogram of cocoa beans, whereas they used
to get paid just less than USD2 for conventional produce. Much of
the funding to kickstart this new wave of organic farming came from
the Venezuelan government, which has injected some USD10mi on
research and training, as well as from the European Union via a
local non-governmental organization called Tierra Viva. Several
Italian, French and American chocolate manufacturers are buying
organic beans from Venezuela.

Source - BBC

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


5. Brazil to Boost Health Research Capacity in Angola

AUG. 07, 2006 - Brazil plans to launch a project to boost
public-health research in Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa.
The project will begin in Angola before being introduced to
Mozambique and other nations. Representatives of Angola's health
ministry will visit Rio de Janeiro this month to finalize the plan's
details during the 11th World Congress on Public Health (21-25
August). Under the plan, Brazilian researchers will teach a
two-year masters course in public health at the Angola National
School of Public Health in Luanda. The first course will begin in
October. The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz),a leading research
centre linked to Brazil's Ministry of Health, is coordinating the
project with support from the Brazilian federal research funding
agency, Capes, and the Angolan government. Together, the three
institutions are providing USD1,100,000 for the project.

Source - SciDev

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Water Issues
--------------


6. Workshop Discusses Regional View of the Amazon Basin

AUG. 10, 2006 - The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization carried
out a regional workshop (August 09 and 10) to discuss regional views
on the Amazon River Basin within the context of the GEF project
"Integrated and Sustainable Management in Transboundary Water
Resources in the Amazon River Basin." The event was attended by
ACTO's Executive Director, the GEF-Amazon project coordinator, the
coordinator of the General Vision component of the project, and
representatives from each of the eight countries of the Amazon
Basin. At this current moment, each country is putting together a
document which reflects a national vision of the Basin.

Source - OTCA

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Forests
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7. Brazil Arrests 46 in Logging Crackdown

AUG. 09, 2006 - Police arrested 46 people, including 16 agents of
the federal environmental protection agency, for allegedly operating
illegal logging operations in the Amazon rainforest and in southern
Brazil. The group is accused of selling an estimated 32 million
cubic feet of illegally logged tropical hardwoods, worth an
estimated USD25 million. The environmental agents are accused of
selling permits that allowed loggers to cut down and transport trees

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while breaking Brazil's strict environmental laws. Other members of
the ring included loggers and lobbyists, the ministry said. Federal
police carried out arrests in four states. Police were still
searching for eight more suspects. Police called it the
second-largest operation to crack down on illegal logging. The
biggest was in June, when federal police and environmental officials
broke up a ring involving 74 suspects in five states. Environment
Minister Marina Silva said joint operations by the environment
ministry and federal police had reduced deforestation by 31 percent
in 2005 compared with the previous year.

Source - NY Times


8. Selective Logging Leads to Clear-Cutting In Amazon

AUG. 01, 2006 - A study has shown for the first time that
'selective' logging in the Brazilian Amazon increases the likelihood
that an area of rainforest will be cleared at a later time.
Selective logging, which refers to the practice of felling only
certain trees in a given area, is promoted as a sustainable
alternative to clear-felling. But the study published this week by
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that from 1999
to 2004, 16 per cent of selectively logged areas were deforested
within one year of logging, and one-third were cleared within four
years. Researchers led by Gregory Asner of the Carnegie Institution
of Washington, United States, used high-resolution satellite images
to measure the extent and intensity of logging across 46,000 square
kilometers of the Brazilian Amazon. Nearly all selective logging in
this area took place within 25 kilometers of main roads. The
probability of deforestation for a selectively logged area was up to
four times greater than for intact forests.

Source - SciDev

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Wildlife
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9. Study in Venezuela Shows: Single Fish Species Controls Health of
Tropical River

AUG. 11, 2006 - Removing just one fish species from a tropical river
can have major effects on the ecosystem's health, according to
research published in Science 11 August. The finding contradicts
the general belief that the greater abundance and diversity of other
species would compensate for the loss. Researchers removed the
flannelmouth fish (Prochilodus mariae) from a stretch of Venezuela's
Orinoco River and measured how this affected the level of carbon in
the ecosystem. The fish is the dominant species in many South
American rivers, where it feeds on algae and detritus on the
riverbed. As the fish moves, feeds, and excretes waste, it plays a
key role in the cycle of carbon synthesis and degradation. It also
removes particles that block the light needed by bacteria that
process nitrogen in the ecosystem. The researchers found that the
river's carbon cycle was disrupted within 48 hours of them removing
the fish. The effect lasted for at least 40 days.

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Source - SciDev


10. Chile Lacks Legislation Against Biopiracy

AUG. 01, 2006 - Although nearly 80 per cent of all plants in Chile
are native, the country does not have a legislation to protect them
from bioprospection. According to congress representative Jaime
Quitana, more than 700 species in Chile were patented by private
companies "without any type of financial return for the communities
from which they came from." Quintana states that Chile does not
have a legislation as do other nations under the Andean Pact and
Argentina and Brazil, which have safeguards for biogenetic
investigations carried out in the country.

Source - SciDev

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


11. Brazil: A Traditional Fishery Flounders in the Wake of
Technology

AUG. 15, 2006 - Beto de Lima is a jangadeiro, captain of a jangada,
a compact, storied sailing vessel that has been ferrying Brazilian
fishermen to far away lobstering and fishing grounds since the 16th
century. Jangada fishing has always been grueling, dangerous work,
pitting small craft and tough, ingenious sailors against a fickle
and sometimes treacherous sea. Of late, though, jangadeiros have
faced obstacles far more fierce than the ocean: competition from
motorized dive boats, often manned by poorly trained human divers.
The boats use illegal fishing techniques that are stripping Brazil's
fishing grounds of their stocks, and threatening to put an end to
Brazil's historic jangada fleet. Rather than following in the
footsteps of their fathers, many of Prainha's youth are migrating to
Brazil's cities to take jobs stocking supermarket shelves and
sweeping hotel lobbies. Others are risking their lives to earn fast
cash in the disease-ridden gold mines of the Amazon. What makes the
jangadeiros' slow demise especially sad for many Brazilians is the
central role the fishermen have played in national lore and
political protest movements.

Source - Wall Street Journal (no link)


12. Venezuela: Love for the Mangrove

AUG. 05, 2006 - The exposition "For Love of the Mangrove", organized
by the National Center for Improvement of Science Education, will
run through August at the Lia Bermudez Art Center in the western
Venezuelan city of Maracaibo. Videos and photographs by artists
Audio Cepeda and Jean Cearlos Ramos illustrate the contributions
made by mangrove trees. There will also be workshops on conservation
in which residents of communities near mangrove forests will
participate, says spokeswoman Adriana Vera. The urgency of the
effort to protect these trees lies in "the pressures from

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development along Venezuela's coasts," which are implementing
projects for natural gas, petroleum and coal there, says Jorge
Hinestroza, professor of ecology at the University of Zulia in
Maracaibo. "Venezuela has 300,000 hectares of mangrove forests with
the potential to generate up to three kilograms of organic material
per square meter," he said.

Source - Tierramerica

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


13. Brazil, Bolivia to Exchange Meteorological Data

JULY 13, 2006 - An agreement signed between Brazil and Bolivia on
July 12 will allow both countries to exchange meteorological and
hydrologic data. The monitoring systems SIPAM (Amazon Protection
System) from Brazil and SENAMHI (National Meteorological System)
from Bolivia will work together to help prevent natural disasters
such as floods. According to the press report, Peru has also
demonstrated interest in closing a similar deal with Brazil.

Source - SIPAM

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


14. Peru: Indigenous Community to Take Oil Company to Court

AUG. 17, 2006 - The Achuar people in the Corrientes River basin are
about to become the first in Peru to take legal action, as it plans
to file suit against the companies it blames for the damages. Oil
drilling on indigenous land began in the 1970s with the arrival of
U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy). In 1996,
Pluspetrol Norte, a local subsidiary ofArgentine-based Pluspetrol,
began to operate in he upper basins of the Pastaza, Corrientes and
Tgre rivers, and expanded its operational area in 200. The
government study of the quality of waterand biological testing
among communities of the orrientes River basin was undertaken in
responseto a FECONACO request. Published in May, it repored the
presence of heavy metals in the indigenou community, after
analyzing samples from 199 peope, including 74 children aged 2 to

17. This, hoever, is problematic, because -- as stated in the
Health Ministry report -- "Peru has no technical egulations to
establish maximum concentration vaues for heavy metals,
hydrocarbons and other elemnts in sediment."

Source - IPS


15. Three Norhern Cities Contaminated By Petcoke

AUG. 07, 206 - A new tuy by the University of Chile's Publi
Health Department found last month that three cties in northern
Chile are heavily contaminated because of the use of petcoke, a

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petroleum derivative that is burned to produce electricity. The
cities of Mejillones, Tocopilla, and Huasco all had above average
levels of nickel, a known carcinogen, in the air. Nickel, besides
being generally harmful to the respiratory system, causes lung
cancer and can lead to the growth of other kinds of tumors. Chile's
Toxic Substance and Sickness Agency (ATSDR) advises that the maximum
exposure to nickel should be no greater than 90 nanograms of the
metal per cubic meter of air (Ng/m3). The study attributed the high
nickel pollution to power generators in the region including the
Electroandina, Edelnor, and Guacolda plants. All plants refused to
comment when Chile's La Tercera newspaper requested a response to
the survey.

Source - Santiago Times


16. Chile: Clean Release of the Last Oil-Contaminated Penguins

AUG. 05, 2006 - The Chilean government's National Forest Corporation
(CONAF) has completed the recovery project for penguins contaminated
with petroleum, rescuing 54 of these birds living in the extreme
southern region of Magallanes, 3,000 km south of the capital. CONAF
veterinarian Alejandra Silva told Tierramerica that the source of
the contamination discovered in April is not yet known. On
Magdalena Island, a natural sanctuary of penguins located in the
Strait of Magellan, 76 penguins were found covered in petroleum. At
a CONAF forestry nursery, the birds were washed, dried, fed and
treated with medications. Of the penguins taken to the center, 22
died of aspergillosis (a disease caused by fungus) and hydrocarbon
poisoning.

Source - Tierramerica

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


17. Cities, States Aren't Waiting For U.S. Action on Climate

AUG. 11, 2006 - With Washington lawmakers deadlocked on how best to
curb global warming, state and local officials across the country
are adopting ambitious policies and forming international alliances
aimed at reducing greenhouse gases. The initiatives, which include
demands that utilities generate some of their energy using renewable
sources and mandates for a reduction in emissions from motor
vehicles, have emboldened clean-air advocates who hope they will
form the basis for broader national action. But in the meantime,
some businesses say the local and state actions are creating a
patchwork of regulations that they must contend with. This flurry
of action is part of a growing movement among state and local
leaders who have given up hope that Congress and the administration
will tackle major issues, and are launching their own initiatives on
immigration, stem cell research and energy policy.

Source - Washington Post


18. Greenland's Melting Ice Sheet May Speed Rise in Sea Level

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AUG. 11, 2006 - Two new scientific studies measuring Greenland's
rapidly melting ice sheet and the pace of Antarctic snowfall suggest
that the sea level may be rising faster than researchers previously
assumed. The papers, both published in the journal Science, provide
the latest evidence of how climate change is transforming the global
landscape. University of Texas at Austin researchers, using twin
satellites, determined that the Greenland ice sheet, Earth's
second-largest reservoir of fresh water, is melting at three times
the rate at which it had been melting over the previous five years.
A separate study by 16 international scientists concluded that
Antarctic snowfall accumulation has remained steady over the past 50
years, with no increases that might have mitigated the melting of
the ice shelf, as some researchers had assumed would occur. Taken
together, the two reports indicate that global sea level rise may
increase more rapidly in the coming years, though the Greenland
study is based on only 2 1/2 years of data. The melting of 57 cubic
miles a year from Greenland's ice sheet could add 0.6 millimeters
alone, which is higher than any previously published measurement for
Greenland, according to University of Texas Center for Space
Research scientist Jianli Chen.

Source - Washington Post

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


19. Brazil: Innovative Hydrogen Buses

AUG. 05, 2006 - Five buses fueled by hydrogen will circulate in Sao
Paulo and four neighboring cities beginning in 2007, with
innovations similar to those in industrialized countries. The
vehicles will incorporate the "hybrid concept," using electricity
generated by hydrogen fuel cells and batteries, Marcio Schettino,
coordinator of the project for the Metropolitan Enterprise of Urban
Transportation, explained to Tierramerica. The batteries accumulate
the energy saved in moments that require little power -- as when the
vehicle is traveling downhill -- and the energy generated by
braking, which help to reduce costs. The great challenge is to
ensure the economic viability to these buses, making them
competitive with diesel-fueled buses, Schettino said. The buses
will be shown at the Electrical Vehicle Seminar and Exhibition, Aug.
16-17 in Sao Paulo. The 12-meter-long buses with a passenger
capacity of 90 people each will travel one million kilometers in
four years of testing.

Source - Tierramerica

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


20. Brazil: Can a Road Save the Amazon?

AUG. 14, 2006 - BR-163 is an unpaved highway located in Brazil's

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Amazon Forest which leads from the city of Santarem, in the state of
Para, to Cuiaba, Mato Grosso. While abandoned for the past three
decades, it has once again become a government priority for the
development of that area. The region is home to three large
hydrographic basins, and is one of the most productive agricultural
areas of the country, especially in terms of soybean production.
However, the road provides a challenge for the GoB to demonstrate
that it can sustainably develop the Amazon and mitigate the
construction's potential environmental impacts. To this end, they
have created two new policies. The first is known as the BR-163
Sustainable Plan and involved the work of 17 Brazilian ministries.
The plan's initial actions include putting into practice some
emergency procedures to intensify the State's presence and public
authority in the region. Little of the Plan has, in fact, been put
into practice, due to continued discussions concerning environmental
impacts and potential complications. Many communities and NGOs fear
that the plan looks good on paper, but may never be implemented.
Complementing the BR-163 Sustainable Plan is the Action Plan for
Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon, which
promotes a new development model for the Amazon region based on
social inclusion, cultural diversity and economic development.

Source - BRASILIA 00001667


21. Brazil: Traditionals to Have Own Policies

AUG. 12 - A national proposal that would benefit the 4.5 million
members of Brazil's traditional peoples and communities will be
drafted by a commission of 15 of their representatives and 15
government delegates by the end of August. The proposal will be up
for discussion in September in workshops to be held in each of the
country's five regions. The effort includes defining policies that
attend to the specific needs of these populations that live from
their local natural resources and develop their own cultures and
knowledge, Jorge Zimmermann, director of the Environment Ministry's
department of sustainable development and agro-extractivism, told
Tierramerica. Encompassed in the proposal are isolated
Afro-Brazilian communities, indigenous peoples, rubber tappers and
extractors of other forest products, traditional fishing
communities, gypsies and others -- most of whom do not hold land
titles and who provide important services of biodiversity
protection, acknowledge Brazil's environmental authorities.

Source - Tierramerica


22. Argentina: Stop Atomic Credits

AUG. 12, 2006 - Environmental, civil society and neighborhood
organizations in the central Argentine province of Cordoba are
calling on the World Bank to halt credits to the National Atomic
Energy Commission, CNEA. The forum, made up of 25 groups, was
created by the CNEA to evaluate its projects for handling uranium
waste at the former Los Gigantes mine and at the uranium dioxide
factory Dioxitek, both in Cordoba. The forum was also required by
the World Bank in order to lend CNEA 35 million dollars. Jose
Velez, forum member, told Tierramerica that despite repeated

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requests, CNEA did not provide any information, and once the
paperwork had been filed, deactivated the association of groups.
"We suspect that the forum was utilized to justify the loan request.
As such, we believe the World Bank should not provide the loan,"
said Velez.

Source - Tierramerica


23. Brazil: Controversial Tires

AUG. 12, 2006 - Sept. 4 will be the second hearing of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) for debate on the restrictions of imports
of recycled tires in Brazil. If Brazil wins, other countries could
maintain similar legal measures and public policies for
environmental protection. "If the ruling is not in our favor, it
would be a major reversal for the country's legislation, given that
it would open a precedent for the import of waste like used
computers," Maria Garcia de Lourdes Grossi, head of the Environment
Ministry's environmental risk reduction project, explained to
Tierramerica. The defeat would not only be for Brazil, she said,
because "it would also hurt developing countries that hope to
restrict the entry of waste into their territories."

Source - Tierramerica


24. Brazil's New Environmental Court

AUG. 04, 2006 - Despite being or potentially because of being one of
the leading Brazilian-states in terms of environmental damages, Para
(PA) has created the first Special Environmental Court in the
country. The court, located in Para's capital, Belem, will try
small-scale environmental crimes; those that could be punished by up
to two years in prison. These include illegal hunting or fishing,
cutting of forests and selling and transportation of wildlife
species and plants. The objective of the new court is to streamline
the judicial process associated with environmental crime.
Procedures that would take an average of a year and a half should
now be solved in a maximum of ten days. Since the crimes that will
be analyzed are considered minor offences, the court can issue
alternative penalties such as financing environmental programs or
undertaking community service. Although the new court will only be
responsible for crimes that take place in Belem, the local
government is already studying the possibility of implementing other
Special Courts throughout the state.

Source - BRASILIA 001581

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


25. Brazilian Agriculture Ministry Issues Conflicting Information
About Avian Flu Virus

AUG. 21, 2006 - The Brazilian Health Ministry issued conflicting
information about the finding of avian flu virus (H2, H3 and H4) in

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migratory birds in the Northeastern states of Bahia, Pernambuco and
Rio Grande do Norte, and in the Southern State of Rio Grande do Sul.
According to one news report, the Ministry's press office confirmed
that birds with low viral loads were found in Pernambuco in March
and in the other states in 2005, but the director of the Ministry's
Animal Health Department announced last night that no such findings
were confirmed.

Source - U.S. Embassy Brasilia Public Affairs


26. Avian Influenza in Venezuela: Dialogue, Outreach, and Post
Preparedness

AUG. 03, 2006 - On July 19, the Economic Section held an Avian
Influenza Seminar in the Embassy [Caracas], which drew over 20
participants from the poultry processing sector and the Ministry of
Agriculture (MAT). The Seminar provided a forum to better
understand [Venezuela's] plans for Avian Influenza as well as to
highlight the private sector's concerns. So far, [Venezuela] has
drafted a "procedure manual" based on FAO standards (not yet made
public) and is looking to reach out to the private poultry
producers, who were mostly unaware that [Venezuela] had any
preparations at all. Producers were especially concerned about
biosecurity and compensation in the event of an outbreak. Post has
set up an AI listserve and is looking to hold DVCs with experts as
part of an ongoing outreach strategy. In addition, Post sent the
MAT Animal Health Coordinator to the U.S. on a Voluntary Visitor
(VolVis) program in April, and held an Embassy AI Emergency Action
Subcommittee meeting in May.

Source - CARACAS 00002295

SOBEL