SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 118

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 15 BRASILIA 000400

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 118

BRASILIA 00000400 001.2 OF 015



1. The following is part of 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

Water Issues
--(3)Chilean Town Withers in Free Market for Water

Forests
--(4)Common Amazon Query: Who Owns The Land?
--(5)Brazil: Reforestation Rule Eased For Land on Major Amazon Road

--(6)Amazon Teetering on the Edge, Says News UNEP Study
--(7)Poor Brazilians Rejoice As Loggers Return To Pillage the
Rainforest
--(8)Digitally Mapping the Amazon Region
--(9)Argentine Forest Fund Approved In Wake of Floods

Wildlife
--(10)Unprecedented Brazilian Operation Supported by INTERPOL Breaks
up Wildlife Smuggling Network

Fishing & Marine Conservation
--(11)Brazil Adheres to FAO Sponsored High-Seas Fishing Agreement
--(12)Chilean Salmon Production Forecasted To Drop 40% This Year
--(13)Climate Change Will Force Fish Species towards Poles
--(14)Argentina Opens to Ideas to Improve Hake Conservation

Protected Areas
--(15)Chile: WWF Helps Launch Pehuenche-Led Araucaria Park
--(16)World's Largest Wetland Threatened in Brazil
--(17)Colombia Starts World's First Amphibian Reserve
--(18)WWF Expert Discusses Galapagos as it Turns 50

Science & Technology
--(19)US$34 Million Science Fund Projected In Chile
--(20)Ecuador Suffers Science Budget Cut - Again
--(21)Colombia Increases Status of Science and Technology

Extractive Industries
--(22)Pulp Prices Plummet, Uruguay Pulp Plant Project Freezes

Energy
--(23)Chile: Geothermal Power Plant Could Jeopardize Important
Tourist Attraction
--(24)Chile Energy Authorities Continue To "Recommend" HidroAysen
--(25)Brazilian Energy Plans Aren't On Same Page
--(26)Brazil Electricity Demand to Increase 50% in Ten Years
--(27)Chile with World Bank Support Turns To Wind Energy
--(28)Chile: Biofuels Head to the Forests
--(29)Chile Trying to Ramp up Renewable Energy
--(30)New Agency Could Aid Renewables in Region

Pollution

BRASILIA 00000400 002.2 OF 015


--(31)Dark Days for Pollution in Santiago
--(32)UN Urges World to Tackle Mercury Health Threat
--(33)Report: 40 Tons of Mercury End Up in Suriname Environment

Climate Change
--(34)Climate Change: Water Shortage Worries Argentine Patagonia
--(35)Magellanic Penguins Moving Northward, claims US Scientist
--(36)Tenacious Drought in Southern Cone Puzzles Climate Experts
--(37)Extreme Water Shortages Predicted For Tropical Andes

--(38) Upcoming Events

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


3. Chilean Town Withers in Free Market for Water
MAR. 15, 2009 -Quillagua, in the Atacama Desert, is in Guinness
World Records as the "driest place" for 37 years and is among many
small towns that are being swallowed up in Chile's intensifying
water wars. Nowhere is the system for buying and selling water more
permissive than in Chile, experts say, where water rights are
private property, not a public resource, and can be traded like
commodities with little government oversight or safeguards for the
environment. Private ownership is so concentrated in some areas that
a single electricity company from Spain, Endesa, has bought up 80
percent of the water rights in a huge region in the south, causing
an uproar. In the north, agricultural producers are competing with
mining companies to siphon off rivers and tap scarce water supplies,
leaving towns like this one bone dry and withering. Chile is a stark
example of the debate over water crises across the globe. Concerns
about water shortages plague Chile's economic expansion of natural
resources like copper, fruits and fish - all of which require lots
of water in a country with limited supplies of it.
Source - NYT

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


4. Common Amazon Query: Who Owns The Land?
FEB. 2009 - As with everything else involving the Amazon, the
dimensions of the land problem are staggering in their scale.
According to a report issued last year by the Amazon Institute of
People and the Environment (Imazon),an area the size of Alaska (1.5
million square kilometers, or 580,000 sq miles) is under uncertain
ownership-in other words, subject to land claims that have yet to be
endorsed or verified by the federal authorities. The report said a
further one million square kilometers (390,000 sq miles) of
ostensibly public land is subject to widespread illegal occupation.
Aside from fueling conflict, the chaotic land situation is widely
seen as a driving force behind deforestation, and a barrier to
sustainable development of the Amazon. No wonder, then, that a
seemingly obscure administrative battle over the bureaucratic
mechanics of issuing land titles has taken on vital importance in
the effort to save the world's largest tropical forest. Roberto
Smeraldi, director of the green group Friends of the Earth,
Brazilian Amazon, says the titling problem dates from 1854, when
Brazil introduced the land legislation still in force today. No
mechanism was established then to take public land, which included
virtually the entire Amazon, and formally make it the property of
the national state. That created a situation somewhat akin to the
"commons" of 16th and 17th century England, which were appropriated

BRASILIA 00000400 003.2 OF 015


through acts of enclosure by the great aristocratic estates. "We
have a kind of no man's land that can be occupied and appropriated,"
says Smeraldi. "Eventually the government or justice system will
recognize your fait accompli, and you will tend to become an owner.
So land speculation often becomes the main reason for expanding the
frontier of colonization."
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
article)


5. Brazil: Reforestation Rule Eased For Land along a Major Amazon
Road
FEB. 2009 - Brazilian authorities have given preliminary approval to
a measure that would boost farming, ranching and other economic
activities along part of a major Amazon roadway by scaling back a
requirement that illegally cut woodlands must be reforested. The
National Coordinating Commission of Economic-Ecological Zoning this
month endorsed a change in the definition of a "legal reserve"-the
share of forested land that must not be cut-in the vicinity of a
1,174-kilometer (729-mile) stretch of BR-163, a major road in the
eastern Amazon. Brazil's 1965 Forest Code prohibits Amazon
landowners from cutting more than 20% of their forested land. The
80% that they're required to leave standing constitutes their "legal
reserve." The code stipulates that those who cut more than 20% must
replant illegally cleared areas with native species. Government
officials argue that giving landowners legal authorization to use
more of their previously cleared land will ensure substantial
reforestation, since returning heavily cut tracts to 50% forest
coverage involves replanting vast amounts of acreage. Green groups,
however, argue the measure amounts to an amnesty for landowners who
violated the forest code. They contend it might encourage others
with land along Amazon roadways to cut beyond the legal limit in
hopes paving projects eventually will bring similar zoning changes.
Source - EcoAmericas


6. Amazon Teetering on the Edge, Says News UNEP Study
FEB. 26, 2009 - The Amazon Basin captures 12,000 to 16,000 square
kilometers of water per year, and just 40 percent of that flows
through the rivers. The rest returns to the atmosphere through
evapotranspiration of the forests and is distributed throughout
South America. Deforestation is reducing the humidity that, carried
by the winds, contributes to the water equilibrium of vast parts of
the continent. Deforestation also intensifies erosion and surface
drainage, which diverts water not only away from the natural
irrigation of the Amazon, but also from faraway farmland. A GEO
Amazon report "Inching Along the Precipice" predicts that in 2026,
an Amazon converted into "the world's last grain reserve,"
cris-crossed by new highways and megaprojects for energy and
regional integration, will attract billion-dollar investments, but
with less forest and clean water, leading to serious environmental
degradation that is accentuated by the impacts of climate change.
. This report (sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP) and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization) was drafted
over the last two years with contributions from 150 scientists from
the eight countries of the Amazon region, and was coordinated by the
Lima-based Research Center of the University of the Pacific. In the
report, the GEO Amazonia scientists lay out four possible future
scenarios based on combinations of variables and a wide range of
information. Source - IPS News


7. Poor Brazilians Rejoice As Loggers Return To Pillage the
Rainforest
FEB. 15, 2009 - Exactly one year ago, in February 2008, Tailandia
became the first Amazonian town to be targeted as part of Operation

BRASILIA 00000400 004.2 OF 015


Arc of Fire - an unprecedented government clampdown on illegal
logging launched after satellite images indicated an alarming rise
in deforestation. Troops swept into this notorious logging outpost,
closing down the sawmills and facing down the local people. Hundreds
of heavily armed police agents took to the streets alongside
environmental agents who fined sawmill owners. More than 2,000
protesters took to Tailandia's streets, blocking its main avenue
with burning tires and tree trunks. Environmental agents fled,
returning only when heavily armed police had quelled the rioters
with a hail of rubber bullets and tear gas. Twelve months on, the
clampdown is a distant memory. "The city is growing, the commerce is
growing," said Wilson Pereira, the Pentecostal pastor. "The sawmills
have started up again [and] the people have gone back to work." The
signs that illegal logging has returned are everywhere. Tractors can
be seen dragging newly felled trees around sawmills, and when night
falls the growl of lorry engines fills the air, as lumber and loads
of charcoal are transported through town on their way to mills or
river barges farther north.
Source - The Guardian


8. Digitally Mapping the Amazon Region
MAR. 02, 2009 - A total of 1,815 digital maps will be completed this
year to provide a greater knowledge of Brazil's Amazon region,
contributing data on official and clandestine roads, rivers,
settlements, haciendas and schools. The maps are a result of the
joint efforts of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
and the army, under the coordination of the Ministry of the
Environment. The first 551 maps were made public on Feb. 17. The
information provided by the maps will help plan actions for the
region. Thirty percent of the region is currently "off the map,"
according to Roberto Vizentin, the officer responsible for the
project's coordination at the Ministry.
Source - Tierramerica


9. Argentine Forest Fund Approved In Wake of Floods
FEB. 2009 - After a wall of water, mud and tree trunks smashed
through the northern Argentine city of Tartagal on Feb. 9, leaving
two people missing and forcing the evacuation of 1,000 families,
experts pointed the finger at lax land-use policy. Specifically,
they blamed the wholesale clearing of forest for monoculture
farming-particularly soy cultivation, a potent foreign-exchange
earner. Besides causing biodiversity loss and erosion, they argued,
deforestation in various parts of Argentina has compromised the
land's ability to soak up rainwater. They also contended that the
federal government had been slow to use a tool it already possessed
to begin addressing the problem: a groundbreaking
forest-conservation law that cleared the Argentine Congress in
November 2007 but has not been put fully into effect. The
government appears to have gotten the message. On Feb. 13, four days
after the disaster, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner announced
the approval of regulations for the legislation, known as the
Forests Law. The move implements a crucial feature of the law that
had languished in the rule-making process-an environmental-services
fund from which the provinces and private property owners will be
paid to conserve their forestland. The Forests Law earmarks at least
0.3% of the federal budget for this fund annually, a share that this
year amounts to 1 billion pesos (US$300 million).
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
article)

--------------
Wildlife
--------------

BRASILIA 00000400 005.2 OF 015




10. Unprecedented Brazilian Operation Supported by INTERPOL Breaks
up Wildlife Smuggling Network
MAR. 13, 2009 - Brazil's largest-ever nationwide operation against
the illegal hunting and trade in wildlife, led by the Brazilian
Federal Police in cooperation with INTERPOL's Environmental Crime
Program, has to date resulted in 72 arrests and the seizure of
thousands of illegally-held wildlife specimens. Spanning nine
Brazilian states and involving 450 Federal Police Officers, with
police teams still on the streets conducting arrests and seizures,
Operation Oxossi - which was launched on 11 March - has so far
resulted in 102 arrest warrants being issued and 140 search warrants
served, as well as more than 3,500 wildlife specimens seized. With
current investigations unveiling an international smuggling network
transporting wildlife from Brazil to a number of European countries,
David Higgins of INTERPOL's Environmental Crime Program said that
the Operation demonstrated that the fight against environmental and
wildlife crime was not just a national concern but an international
issue too. Police said that the gang specialized in trafficking blue
macaws, a critically endangered species that might have disappeared
from the wild in a short time, had the group's activities continued.
Profits from this illegal trade are high, with a single egg of a
blue macaw fetching up to EUR 3,000 on the European market.
Source - INTERPOL

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


11. Brazil Adheres to FAO Sponsored High-Seas Fishing Agreement
MAR. 11, 2009 - Brazil openly backed the Compliance Agreement of the
United Nation's (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),which
aims to promote compliance of international conservation and
governance measures by fishing vessels that operate on the high
seas. The head of the Special Secretariat of Aquaculture and
Fisheries (SEAP),Altemir Gregolin, signed on behalf of Brazil
during a ceremony held at FAO's Rome headquarters. The Agreement is
one of the few international legally binding instruments that
address fishing activities in high seas areas outside the exclusive
economic zones (EEZ). Member countries participating in the
Agreement, among which Brazil is now party, must guarantee that
vessels flying their flag abide by responsible fishing practices on
the high seas.
Source - MercoPress


12. Chilean Salmon Production Forecasted To Drop 40% This Year
MAR. 03, 2009 - With Chile's farmed salmon production expected to
drop between 40 and 50% this year, Chilean producers can only hope
that the price of the fish continues to rise, as it has in recent
months. Last December, the price of salmon rose 22.7% compared to
the same month in 2007, reaching USD 5.3 per kilogram. If that trend
continues, the relatively high prices could help offset at least
some of the industry's projected losses. This year's Chile's
expected production drop results from an ongoing outbreak of
Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA),a highly contagious virus that first
appeared in the country in mid 2007. Since then the disease has
continued to spread throughout the country's southern salmon farming
regions, forcing the closure of numerous salmon farms and processing
plants. The closures in turn led to an estimated 7,500 layoffs.
Thousands more job cuts are expected in the coming months. Because
of the ISA situation, producers have been harvesting their salmon
prematurely, processing them, in other words, before they have a
chance to contract the illness. The premature harvests actually led

BRASILIA 00000400 006.2 OF 015


to record exports in 2008, when the Chilean salmon industry sold
more than USD 2.4 billion worth of fish, according to Instituto de
Fomento Pequero (Fisheries Promotion Institute). Analysts say,
however that the industry is indeed due for a huge slide, with
production expected to fall this year from approximately 375,000
tons to 220,000 tons.
Source - MercoPress


13. Climate Change Will Force Fish Species towards Poles
FEB. 16, 2009 - The world's fish stocks will soon suffer major
upheaval due to climate change, scientists have warned. Changing
ocean temperatures and currents will force thousands of species to
migrate polewards, including cod, herring, plaice and prawns. By
2050, US fishermen may see a 50% reduction in Atlantic cod
populations. The predictions of "huge changes", published in the
journal Fish and Fisheries, were presented at the AAAS annual
meeting in Chicago. Marine biologists used computer models to
forecast the future of 1,066 commercially important species from
across the globe. The invasion of new species into unfamiliar
environments could seriously disrupt ecosystems, the researchers
warn. Some species will face a high risk of extinction, including
Striped Rock Cod in the Antarctic and St Paul Rock Lobster in the
Southern Ocean.
Source - Mercopress


14. Argentina Opens to Ideas to Improve Hake Conservation
FEB. 18, 2009 - Argentina's Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock,
Fisheries, and Food (SAGP&A) is temporarily exempting the use of the
selective fishing device (DEJUPA) for catching hake (Merluccius
hubbsi) while other alternatives are proposed. The exemption will
remain in effect for 180 consecutive days as of February 19 but
ship-owners must comply with the remaining obligations regarding
hake fishing in Argentine waters. According to Resolution 78/2009,
ship-owners and sector business chambers may present projects
proposing the use of an alternative device that would allow hake
juveniles to escape within the next 30 consecutive days. Meanwhile
it was reported that 8,639 tons of hake were landed in Argentine
maritime ports between 1 January and 5 February, according to
official statistics.
Source - MercoPress

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


15. Chile: WWF Helps Launch Pehuenche-Led Araucaria Park
MAR. 16, 2009 - The World Wildlife Fund Chile (WWF),working in
collaboration with the Region IX indigenous community of Quinquen,
inaugurated a project on March 12 to create a park of araucaria
trees and promote tourism. The park showcases 1,000-year-old
araucaria trees (known in English as monkey puzzle trees) and will
be developed and administrated by inhabitants of the Andean area.
The project is part of an ongoing effort to promote tourism in
Lonqiumay, a part of Region IX (in southern Chile) where there is a
significant population of Mapuche-Pehuenche indigenous people. The
park is to be called Pehuenche Park of Quinqun. WWF is also using
the project to help Pehuenches gain land rights to more than 10,000
hectares of mature araucaria forest.
Source - Santiago Times


16. World's Largest Wetland Threatened in Brazil
FEB. 16, 2009 - Jaguars still roam the world's largest wetland and
endangered Hyacinth Macaws still nest in its trees but advancing

BRASILIA 00000400 007.4 OF 015


farms and industries are destroying Brazil's Pantanal region at an
alarming rate. The world's largest freshwater wetland, the Pantanal
is almost 10 times the size of Florida's Everglades. Parks and
protected areas make up only a small fraction of the Pantanal, and
the rest is largely unprotected. The degradation of this landlocked
river delta on the upper Paraguay River which straddles Brazil,
Bolivia and Paraguay is a reminder of how economic progress can
cause large-scale environmental damage. Brazil's exports of beef,
iron and to a lesser extent soy -- the main products from the
Pantanal -- have rocketed in recent years, driven largely by global
demand. Demand for charcoal in Brazilian pig iron smelters has
accelerated deforestation, environmentalists say. "We set up shop
precisely to use wood from the advancing agricultural frontier,"
said Vitor Feitosa, operations director for MMX, a smelter located
in the Pantanal town Corumba and owned by Brazilian billionaire Eike
Batista. Brazil's pig iron exports have grown sixfold to $3.14
billion since 2003. Around 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres)
of native forest are lost annually in the state of Mato Grosso do
Sul, home to much of the Pantanal, an FGV study showed. After being
fined several times, MMX agreed not to buy Pantanal charcoal, but
most smelters in the state still do.
Source - Reuters


17. Colombia Starts World's First Amphibian Reserve
FEB. 2009 - In July 2006, Colombian scientists discovered two new
species of endemic poison dart frog in a tiny area of rainforest in
Colombia's Central Mountain Range. The frogs, subsequently named
Swainson's Poison Frog (Ranitomeya doriswainsonae) and the Little
Golden Dart Frog (Ranitomeya tolimense) were imminently threatened
by the advance of coffee and avocado plantations, which had erased
all but 20% of the area's original forest cover. The scientists from
the Bogot-based conservation group ProAves persuaded area farmers
to stop cutting the forest and sell their land to the group. Then
they appealed urgently to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and
Conservation International for scientific and financial help. On
Dec. 23, 2008, as a result of those efforts, the world's first
reserve dedicated exclusively to amphibian conservation was
established on 120 hectares (296 acres) of well-preserved forest
near the sites where the red and black Swainson's poison frog and
the yellowish little Golden Dart Frog were first spotted. Though
private, the new Ranita Dorada Amphibian Reserve in the central-west
municipality of Falan, department of Tolima, is expected to become
part of the Colombian government's National System of Protected
Areas (Sinap) and receive official government protection within the
next three months.
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
article)


18. WWF Expert Discusses Galapagos as it Turns 50
FEB. 2009 - On Feb. 12, the world celebrated the 200th birthday of
Charles Darwin, whose research on the Galpagos Islands set the
stage for his theory of evolution. This year also marks the 50th
birthday of Galpagos National Park, established on July 4, 1959 as
Ecuador's first protected area. This month's EcoAmericas carries a
Q&A section with Eliecer Cruz, director of the Galpagos office of
the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). Cruz was director of Galpagos
National Park from 1995 to 2003 and governor of Galpagos Province
from August 2007 to September 2008. Please contact Larissa Stoner
for complete Q&A.

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

BRASILIA 00000400 008.6 OF 015




19. US$34 Million Science Fund Projected In Chile
MAR. 23, 2009 - Scientific research in Chile will get a big boost
this year as a result of the government's decision to fund research
institutes around the country to the tune of US$34 million. Five
institutes were selected this year to join eight research centers
chosen in 2007 to receive base funding from the National Commission
for Scientific and Technological Innovation (CONICYT). CONICYT will
distribute the US$34 million by 2015, with the aim of covering 50
percent of the institutions' expenses over five years. An additional
20 percent of the institutions' budgets will be covered by
partnerships with private enterprises. The Center for
Nanotechnology Research at the Universidad de Santiago de Chile was
one of the institutes named this year and holds compelling prospects
for future development in carbon nanoparticles. The grants will
also support basic research at the Universidad de Chile's Center of
Mining Technology, the Universidad de Concepcisn's Center for Optics
and Photonics, the Center for Science and Technology at the
Universidad Frederico Santa Mara in Valparaso, and the independent
Millenium Center for Complex Engineering Systems in Santiago.
Source - Santiago Times


20. Ecuador Suffers Science Budget Cut - Again
FEB. 27, 2009 - Several scientific institutions in Ecuador which had
been selected to receive Government funds in 2009 have suffered
drastic cuts in their budgets. In October 2008, President Rafael
Correa announced an investment of USD76 million for 75 research and
innovation projects in priority areas over the following three
years. The National Science and Technology Secretariat (Senacyt)
should have paid nearly USD40 million for the first year of these
projects in January. Nonetheless, due to insufficient funds,
Senacyt informed the grantees that their funds would be reduced by
75%. After protests from university directors and researchers, the
Government decided to reduce their budgets by only 50%. According
to Pedro Montalvo of Senacyt, only USD23 million will be spent in
research in 2009.. Montalvo stated that none of the projects are at
risk of being cancelled and that he hopes that the USD76 million
will be invested over the next three years.
Source - SciDev


21. Colombia Increases Status of Science and Technology
FEB. 13, 2009 - For the first time in almost two decades, Colombia
has revamped its science legislation to increase the status of its
science development agency - and bring science and technology (S&T)
on a par with other sectors. The new law was signed by the
president Alvaro Uribe in January and presented by him 10 February.
Under the law, the Colombian Institute for the Development of
Science and Technology (Colciencias) becomes the Administrative
Department for Science, Technology and Innovation - putting it at
the level of a ministry, but without legislative powers. It will now
be able to communicate directly with the president - rather than its
previous position under the Department of Planning - and its
director will join the Ministerial Council when S&T issues are on
the agenda. It will also have more freedom in science spending. But
the change - the first revision of S&T legislation since 1990 - has
been criticized by scientists saying it doesn't map out how Colombia
will reach its goal of spending one per cent of GDP science,
technology and innovation by 2010. Today the figure is 0.5 per cent.

Source - SciDev

--------------
Extractive Industries

BRASILIA 00000400 009.4 OF 015


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


22. Pulp Prices Plummet, Uruguay Pulp Plant Project Freezes
FEB. 17, 2009 - Spanish pulp company ENCE confirmed to Uruguayan
officials that they are freezing the construction of their planned
one million ton pulp plant project in Punta Pereira until they find
an associate, but discarded any chances of abandoning the whole
operation, reports the Montevideo press. According to Colonia's
mayor Walter Zimmer, the ENCE delegation "would continue with the
essentials to keep the free trade zone status and construction
permits for the foundations of two jetties, but the whole operation
in Uruguay will be delayed and the plant is to be postponed". ENCE
delegates argued that an associate is needed "to share the volumes
and cost of the operation" since pulp prices internationally have
plummeted 50% and "we need to share the investment". ENCE that also
has 170.000 hectares of forests in Uruguay, said that eucalyptus
takes nine years to grow while in Europe similar trees for pulp
making, two to three decades, which is a significant cost edge for
the whole project.
Source - Mercopress

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


23. Chile: Geothermal Power Plant Could Jeopardize Important Tourist
Attraction
MAR. 23, 2009 - Just 50 miles from San Pedro de Atacama in the North
Eastern reaches of the Atacama Desert, the Tatio Geysers are one of
Chile's top tourist attractions. Situated 4,200 meters above sea
level and with more than 80 active geysers, 'El Tatio' attracts
almost 100,000 tourists annually. Although the area should be
regarded as one of Chile's most important natural wonders, there are
plans afoot to build a colossal geothermal power plant close to the
geyser field. While there is no doubt the plan is feasible, there is
a great deal of concern about its impact on the environment. A power
generating plant in the middle of the Atacama Desert would be a
potential eyesore, and local residents who rely on the tourism are
concernd that the development would jeopardize one of Chie's most
important tourist attractions
Source -editorial in the Santiago Times


24. Chile Energ Authorities Continue To "Recommend" HidroAysen
AR. 23, 2009 - Government energy authorities made t clear last
week they haven't given up on utiliy HidroAysen's high-profile
Patagonia dam project, despite major problems the company faces in
getting environmental authorities to approve the controversial
hydroelectric venture. Last August HidroAysen submitted the US$3
billion project for approval by the Regional Environmental
Commission (COREMA) in Aysen (Region XI). Three months later,
however, the company temporarily withdrew itself from the approval
process after the project's 11,000-page Environmental Impact Study
(EIS) was inundated with criticisms by government agencies and
citizen observers alike. The withdrawal was hailed as a victory by
the project's many opponents, who insist that the five dams
HidroAysen plans to build will ruin Region XI's Baker and Pascua
Rivers and open up Chilean Patagonia - one of the world's last
remaining wilderness areas - to further industrial exploitation.
Still, neither continued public opposition to the project nor
HidroAysen's EIS problems appear to have scared off the government's
National Energy Commission (CNE),which decided this month to once
again include three of the project's proposed dams in its latest
price report.

BRASILIA 00000400 010.2 OF 015


Source - Santiago Times


25. Brazilian Energy Plans Aren't On Same Page
FEB. 2009 - Brazil has unveiled a pair of national energy plans that
point in starkly different directions, reflecting the divergent
priorities of the two ministries that drafted them. One, the
National Climate Change Plan (PNMC),was issued by the Environment
Ministry after consultation with 12 other ministries. It calls for
boosting non-hydroelectric, renewable energy substantially by 2030.
The plan was a hit when it was presented in December at the UN
climate talks in Poznan, Poland. That's largely because it also set
unprecedented targets for reducing the pace of deforestation,
principally in the Amazon-the source of 75% of Brazil's carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions. But another plan was released in December,
this one by Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry. Called the Ten-Year
Energy Expansion Plan (PDE),this plan gives fossil-fueled
thermoelectric plants a far bigger share of the power-generation
matrix by 2018, without doing the same for non-hydroelectric,
renewable energy. Green groups suspect the PDE is a more accurate
indicator of the country's energy direction. "Until now, the
government has invested far more in thermo plants than non-hydro,
renewable energy because it is pro-development, not
pro-environment," says Carlos Bocuhy, president of the Brazilian
Environmental Protection Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on
pollution and energy issues. "My guess is that this tendency will
continue."
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
article)


26. Brazil Electricity Demand to Increase 50% in Ten Years
FEB. 10, 2009 - Brazil needs to increase its electricity generation
capacity by 50% over the next 10 years said Energy Minister Edson
Lobao, who described the task as an "enormous challenge". Lobao is
quoted as saying that "adding 51,000 megawatts to the country's
current power capacity, (or) an average of more than 5,000 megawatts
per year," would be an "enormous challenge". In addition to
boosting output, Lobao said the country must shift to different
methods of generating electricity; he said the goal is a reduction
of at least 10 percentage points in the amount produced by
hydroelectric plants, which today accounts for 85% of the country's
electricity consumption (NOTE: After the 2001 energy crisis in
Brazil when a severe drought reduced the volume of water in the
dams, the GOB has become cautious about relying on hydro power) . He
said the plans call for more wind energy plants and the construction
of four new nuclear plants, in addition to the two currently in
operation at Angra dos Reis, a coastal city 150 kilometers from Rio
de Janeiro. Construction of the four nuclear power plants is to be
put out to tender in the middle of this year, according to Lobao,
who said those plans could change depending on Brazil's economic
performance. Lobao added that the government hopes to encourage
consumers to replace 10 million old, inefficient refrigerators with
others that are more modern and energy-efficient and less
contaminating.
Source - Mercopress


27. Chile with World Bank Support Turns To Wind Energy
FEB. 16, 2009 - With 61.5 million US dollars, the World Bank Group
is sponsoring the construction of the first wind farm in Chile,
advancing the development of renewable energy in Chile. The Totoral
Wind Farm, situated 300 kilometers north of Santiago, will consist
of 23 two-megawatt Vestas wind turbines. The project is expected to
generate an average of 110 gigawatt hours per year of electricity
for the Chilean central grid, relieving the significant supply

BRASILIA 00000400 011.2 OF 015


constraints the country is experiencing. The Totoral Wind Farm is
expected to be one of the largest operating wind farms in Chile when
it is completed in 2009. It will also be the first renewable energy
project to be financed under Chile's new "Non-Conventional Renewable
Energy Law," which was passed in March 2008. IFC is supporting the
government of Chile's objectives of rapidly increasing and
diversifying its energy supply. In the past five years, IFC has
invested over 290 million USD in five projects with a focus on
supporting the expansion of the country's traditional energy sources
such as hydro, as well as less traditional energy sources such as
wind.
Source - MercoPress


28. Chile: Biofuels Head to the Forests
FEB. 06, 2009 - Chile has set its sights on producing
second-generation plant-based fuels from forest biomass within the
next five years. But before that it must consider the environmental
and socioeconomic impacts of such an endeavor, warn experts and
activists. Chile's heavy energy dependence and its continued
increase in emissions of climate-changing gases have led this South
American country to pursue renewable energy options like solar,
wind, geothermal and biomass. Biomass - renewable organic material
from plants and animals - serves to generate electricity, for
thermal energy production and the output of liquid fuels like
bioethanol or biodiesel. A law passed in April 2008 requires that as
of 2010 at least five percent of Chile's electricity must come from
non-conventional renewable sources, including biomass. Beginning in
2015, the proportion must increase 0.5 percent annually until
reaching a full 10 percent in 2024. Two consortiums were created in
October for research and development of lignocellulosic biofuels,
that is, fuels based on woody fibers. The goal is to "surpass the
expansion limits and the grave conflicts that the current crop-based
fuels (made from foods like maize or sugarcane) can create," said
Guilherme Schuetz, coordinator of the regional biofuels group of the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Source - Tierramerica


29. Chile Trying to Ramp up Renewable Energy
FEB. 2009 - As concerns about future energy supplies continue to
mount, Chile's government is pressing to expand renewable power.
Over the past year, it has introduced an array of subsidies, tax
incentives and other reforms to give the sector a boost. "Chile now
has adequate legislation that is evolving fast, and that's very
different from just four years ago, when the possibilities for
building renewable projects were almost nil in this country," says
Javier Garca, deputy head of investment and development for the
Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo). Last October, the
Chilean finance ministry announced it was giving US$400 million to
Corfo to boost renewable-energy development through long-term loans,
loan guarantees, support for the construction of electric
transmission lines and geothermal exploration. With help from KfW,
Germany's government-owned development bank, and Chile's Energy
Ministry, Corfo already has a US$5.2 million fund to help project
developers finance studies. And Corfo has a US$150 million fund to
provide low-interest loans of up to US$15 million with long grace
periods for prospective renewable-energy projects.
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
article)


30. New Agency Could Aid Renewables in Region
FEB. 2009 - With its energy demand expecting to more than double
over the next 25 years, Latin America remains locked in an
environmentally and economically costly dependence on fossil fuels.

BRASILIA 00000400 012.2 OF 015


The region's principal economies, excepting largely hydro-powered
Brazil, rely overwhelmingly on oil, natural gas and coal for their
electricity. Poorer nations, especially in Central America, are
addicted to a mixture of fossil fuels and firewood. But the
outlines of a different picture emerged on Jan. 26, when German
Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel formally announced in
Bonn the establishment of a new International Renewable Energy
Agency (Irena) dedicated to providing technology transfer and
practical know-how for renewable energy. The existing world
energy-policy center, the International Energy Agency (IEA),has
long drawn fire for dragging its feet on alternative energy, with
only 2% of its budget targeting renewables. Moreover, its members
are mostly all rich Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) countries, with Mexico the only Latin American
representative. Irena, whose 55 member nations include Latin
American countries Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Costa
Rica, aspires to be different. Though its initial annual budget is a
meager 25 million Euros (US$32.8 million),the agency is expected to
acquire considerable funding from member countries to help
kick-start alternative energy around the world.
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
article)

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


31. Dark Days for Pollution in Santiago
MAR. 09, 2009 - Air contamination issues in Chile's capital took top
billing following the resignation of three of the region's top
environmental officials and publication of a report predicting very
high pollution levels this coming autumn. Marcelo Fernandez, Chief
of Contamination Control for the National Environmental Commission
(CONAMA),resigned from his post March 06, becoming the third
government official to fall foul of the "smog crisis" in less than a
week. March 02 saw the resignation of "Metropolitan Clean-Air"
manager Marcelo Mena, who criticized the lack of support and
financing from CONAMA Metropolitan Region director Alejandro Smythe,
who himself resigned on March 06. Controversy was further stoked by
the appointment of Jorge Lagos to replace Smythe. Lagos is tied to
the Society for Industry Development (SOFOFA),a major opponent to
regulations for PM 2.5 (fine particles),which are a major cause of
contamination and reduced visibility in the capital. A recent
Health Ministry report predicted that pollution levels in Santiago
will be particularly high this fall due to expectations of low
rainfall (which normally helps to clear the air) and low
temperatures. The report said one of the most serious effects of
higher contamination levels is an increase in breathing-related
illnesses and suggested 2009 could see a large outbreak of flu, with
human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) possibly reaching epidemic
levels akin to those seen in 2001 and 2004 in Santiago.
Source - Santiago Times


32. UN Urges World to Tackle Mercury Health Threat
FEB. 16, 2009 - The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) urged
environment ministers meeting in Nairobi to adopt a strategy to curb
the use of the highly toxic metal mercury. "The world's environment
ministers meeting in Nairobi, Kenya can take a landmark decision to
lift a global health threat from the lives of hundreds of millions
of people," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said in a
statement. More than 100 environment ministers from around the
world met in Nairobi on February 16-20 for UNEP's annual governing
council meeting. Mercury is a heavy metal whose highly toxic

BRASILIA 00000400 013.4 OF 015


presence -- propagated notably by the production of coal, certain
kinds of plastics, artisanal gold mining practices and improper
disposal of fluorescent light bulbs -- poison millions of people
worldwide. Fish-eating is the first source of exposure among humans.
The effects of mercury ingestion include damage to the brain, kidney
and lungs. Steiner said that a policy framework drafted after seven
years of extensive research would be submitted to the ministers. "It
covers reducing demand in products and processes -- such as high
intensity discharge vehicle lamps and the chloralkali industry --
and mercury in international trade," he said.
Source - AFP


33. Report: 40 Tons of Mercury End Up in Suriname Environment
JAN. 20, 2009 - According to statistics more than 40 tons of mercury
end up in Suriname's environment. There is a big difference between
mercury that is imported and the actual amount circulating in the
country. According to statistics about 7,000 tons of mercury were
imported from The Netherlands in 2003. A big amount also comes from
the United States of America, news source said. In 2007 the U.S.
exported a total of 378 tons of mercury, part of which had Suriname
as final destination, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Source - Times of Suriname. Kindly shared by US Embassy Paramaribo

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


34. Climate Change: Water Shortage Worries Argentine Patagonia
MAR. 13, 2009 - The impact of climate change is evident in
Patagonia, with water shortages and temperature increases, according
to a recent study. The publication, carried out by IIED
(International Institute for Environment and Development),indicates
that the province of Chubut (Argentina) is highly dependent on water
for irrigation in agricultural and silvicultural (cultivation of
trees) activities. The region also relies on water for the
petrochemical industry and for energy supply. The author of the
study, Rodrigo Roveta, points to the lack of adaptation measures
implemented in a coordinated manner to face these climatic changes.
"Information is very scattered, there are no local references and
there is much misinformation amongst the community in general," he
told SciDev. The study shows that there has been a progressive
reduction in precipitation and an increase of temperature in Chubut,
both of which have already led to changes in grazing activities in
the regions.
Source - SciDev


35. Magellanic Penguins Moving Northward, claims US Scientist
FEB. 16, 2009 - South Atlantic Magellanic penguins are moving north,
laying their eggs later than they used to, and struggling - often
unsuccessfully - to feed their chicks, all as a result of climate
change. These findings suggest the need for a major shift in the
way we think about protecting penguins, as well as other marine
creatures, said conservation biologist Dee Boersma, of the
University of Washington in Seattle. She presented the results of
more than 25 years of research in Chicago at the annual meeting of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fourteen
of the world's 19 penguin species are threatened or endangered, with
a few species in deep trouble. A major reason for their decline,
Boersma said, is an increasingly variable climate, with more
frequent El Nino and La Nina events that can drastically change
water temperatures and nutrient levels from year to year. Climate
models predict more of this type of variability to come. Since the
early 1980s, Boersma has been studying and tagging Magellanic

BRASILIA 00000400 014.4 OF 015


penguins at a site called Punta Tombo on the Argentine coast. She
has been using satellites to track the animals since 1997. Punta
Tombo is home to the world's largest population of Magellanic
penguins, which live along the southern tip of South America in
Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands.
Source - Mercopress


36. Tenacious Drought in Southern Cone Puzzles Climate Experts
FEB. 09, 2009 - Climatologists and meteorologists have not yet
established a reason for the lack of rainfall on the normally
fertile and productive plains of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and
Uruguay. For months now, yellowed pastures, cracked soils and dead
livestock have been the landscape scenes in what otherwise are the
most productive farming areas of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and
Uruguay. Scientists say it is impossible at this time to determine
if the drought is a manifestation of climate change processes. Some
experts believe the lack of rain could be related to the influence
of La Nina, the cool phase of the cyclical climate event known as El
Nino/Southern Oscillation, which changes the surface temperature of
equatorial Pacific Ocean currents and affects the region's climate.
University of Buenos Aires climatologist Vicente Barros, member of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),along with
experts Jos Marengo of Brazil and Madeleine Renom of Uruguay, told
Tierramerica that it is impossible to assert that the current
drought is an unequivocal manifestation of climate change, because
the weather changes must be assessed over the long term. The three
agree that "what can be attributed to climate change is the greater
climate variability, like fluctuations in the maximum and minimum
rainfall, and the greater frequency, and in some cases the
intensity, of extreme phenomena," summarized Renom, meteorologist
and professor at the University of the Republic of Uruguay.
Source - Tierramerica


37. Extreme Water Shortages Predicted For Tropical Andes
FEB. 09, 2009 - Climate change will seriously affect the tropical
Andes by the end of this century and could lead to water shortages,
according to a study published in the Journal of Geophysical
Research in January. Their study - a first attempt at determining
future climate change in the region - concludes that increases in
temperature "will likely lead to severe impacts on socioeconomic
activity" and biodiversity. The researchers simulated two different
climate change scenarios for 2071-2100: a low-emission scenario with
reduced population growth, and a medium-high emission scenario with
high population growth, using regional climate models. The models
predict temperature increases of 2-7 degrees Celsius, depending on
location and scenario, for the entire tropical South America region.
Most strongly affected will be the tropical Andes, home to 99 per
cent of the world's tropical glaciers. These provide the surrounding
region with a steady supply of water, retaining much of the
precipitation falling at high elevation and eventually - when the
snow melts - releasing it more slowly to feed river streams. The
largest temperature rise at high elevation is projected for the
Cordillera Blanca in northern Peru, the highest and most extensively
glaciated tropical mountain range in the world.
Source - SciDev


38. Upcoming Events
2nd Latinamerican Congress on Biorefineries
Termas de Chillan, Chile
May 4-6, 2009
3rd Interamerican Congress on Solid Waste
Buenos Aires, Argentina
May 6-8, 2009

BRASILIA 00000400 015.4 OF 015


2nd International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production
Sao Paulo, Brazil
May 20-22, 2009
IV International Roundtable on Responsible Soy
Campinas, Brazil
May 26-27, 2009
4th International Bioenergy Conference
Curitiba, Brazil
June 16-19, 2009
International Innovation and Security Workshop
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
June 16-18, 2009
The Future of Energy in the Americas: Adapting To the New Energy
Reality
Miami, FL
June 22-23 2009
Institute of the Americas
First International Seminar on Environmental Issues in the Mining
Industry
Santiago, Chile
Sept. 30 - Oct. 02, 2009
XIII World Forestry Congress
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Oct. 18-25, 2009
VI World Park Rangers Congress
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Nov. 2009

SOBEL