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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 16 BRASILIA 000580 
 
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 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 92 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  001.2 OF 016 
 
 
¶1.  The following is the ninety-second 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)Brazil shuts down Cargill's Amazon port 
--(4)Colombia: Farm Bill Criticized As Land Grab and Anti-Green 
--(5)Brazil Soy Industry Prepares For Biodiesel War with Argentina 
--(6)Brazil's Lula Allows Genetically Modified Imports 
 
Water Issues 
--(7)Controversial Brazil River Plan Allowed 
--(8)Chile: Lack Of Water Threatens Nature Reserve in Region I 
--(9)WWF accuses Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay of degradation in the 
Plata Basin 
--(10)Latin America: Greater Effort Needed Against Desertification 
 
Forests 
--(11)Brazil's New Forestry Law Draws Praise 
--(12)Argentina Considers Year-Long Logging Ban 
--(13)Brazil: Use the Internet to Protect Forests 
 
Wildlife 
--(14)"Guaranteed Hunts" in Argentina Drawing Fire 
 
Protected Areas 
--(15)Chile: Ice Fields Could Become Biggest Natural Heritage Site 
 
Science & Technology 
--(16)Brazil Will Use Advanced System of Remote Surveillance 
 
Pollution 
--(17)Petrobras to Appeal Huge Oil-Spill Award 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  002.2 OF 016 
 
 
Climate Change 
--(18)Bolivia: El Nino Has Bigger Bite with Climate Change 
--(19)Bolivia: Reaping the Rewards of the Clean Development 
Mechanism 
 
Energy 
--(20)Venezuela's Chavez Pledges "Energy Revolution" 
--(21)Brazilian Catholic Church Joins Critics of Ethanol Fuel Boom 
--(22)Uruguay Seeks to Change the Image of Atomic Energy 
--(23)Argentina to Produce Biodiesel from Algae 
--(24)Brazil Biofuel Update, March 2007 
 
General 
--(25)Ecuador: Environmentalists Optimistic About Correa 
--(26)Study Urges Regional Approach to Development 
--(27)Brazil Needs Foreign Money to Preserve the Amazon 
--(28)Details of Al Gore's Upcoming Trip to Chile Revealed 
--(29)New Environment Ministry for Chile 
 
----------- 
Agriculture 
----------- 
 
¶3. Brazil shuts down Cargill's Amazon port 
 
MAR. 25, 2007 - Authorities shut down an important deep-water Amazon 
River port owned by Cargill Inc. on March 24, saying the huge U.S. 
agribusiness firm failed to provide an environmental impact 
statement required by law.  The move by federal police and 
environmental agents to close Cargill's controversial soy export 
terminal was a major victory for environmentalists in Santarem, a 
sleepy jungle city about 1,250 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. It came 
after a ruling by Judge Souza Prudente, police and the Agencia 
Estado news service said.  Environmentalists who point to soy 
farming, logging and cattle ranching as the primary threats facing 
the Amazon praised the closure, calling it a milestone in attempts 
to push the government to more effectively police a region where 
lawlessness often prevails. 
 
Source - Miami Herald 
 
¶4. Colombia: Farm Bill Criticized As Land Grab and Anti-Green 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  003.2 OF 016 
 
 
 
MAR. 2007 - A Colombian bill designed to spur agricultural exports 
has come under attack by critics who say it will legalize an unjust 
and environmentally damaging transfer of land from small-scale 
farmers to monocrop growers linked to right-wing paramilitary 
groups.  At issue is the Rural Development Law, approved by the 
Colombian Senate in December and now before the lower house, or 
Chamber of Deputies.  Proponents say the bill is needed to boost 
cash-crop and forest-product exports, calling it the country's most 
important farm bill of the past half century.  But environmental 
groups charge the bill would leave illegal, right-wing paramilitary 
groups with vast tracts of land they have taken by force from 
Indian, Afro-Colombian and peasant farm communities over the last 20 
years of the country's civil war. Aside from being confiscatory, 
they say, the legislation would encourage expansion of unsustainable 
African palm, timber and other large-scale monoculture farming 
operations that in the past have taken a heavy toll on Colombia's 
environment.  Opponents warn the rural-development bill also would 
dramatically reduce government subsidies, marketing support and 
technical assistance for those producing foodstuffs for the domestic 
market.  In the process, they say, family farmers and indigenous 
communities using agro-forestry, subsistence farming and other 
sustainable farming methods will be squeezed and, in many cases, 
wiped out. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
¶5. Brazil Soy Industry Prepares For Biodiesel War with Argentina 
 
MAR. 26, 2007 - Brazil's major soyoil producers are preparing for a 
fight against Argentina over the biodiesel market, hoping Brasilia 
can convince Buenos Aires that Argentine tax policies are bad for 
Brazil's biodiesel program.  Brazil soy oil is the number one 
ingredient used in making biodiesel.  Soy oil companies think 
Argentina's cheaper costs will cut them out of the market, 
especially the export markets.  In early February, Argentine 
President Nestor Kirchner signed an executive order to create a 
national biofuel law designed to make Argentina a biodiesel 
exporter. Kirchner put a low 5 percent export tax on biofuels, 
compared with a 24 percent export tax on soyoil. That makes it more 
beneficial for soyoil companies to sell their soyoil to fuel 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  004.2 OF 016 
 
 
refineries for export than it does to export pure soybean oil for 
human consumption, Lovatelli said.  The measure also provides tax 
breaks for companies investing in the sector.  Whether the industry 
can convince Brasilia to go after Argentina, however, will be known 
in the months ahead.  Given the Argentine strategy to become a 
biofuels exporter, it is unlikely Brasilia negotiators will get very 
far with Kirchner. 
 
Source - CattleNetwork 
 
¶6. Brazil's Lula Allows Genetically Modified Imports 
 
MAR. 22, 2007- Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva eased 
rules on importing genetically modified agricultural organisms, 
official news agency Agencia Brasil said. 
The presidential green light given on March 21 could most 
immediately benefit Germany's Bayer, which has sought approval for a 
variety of genetically modified corn.  It came after a bare majority 
of the 27 members of the National Technical Biosecurity Commission 
gave their backing for the commercialization of just one transgenic 
crop.  But at the same time Lula vetoed the commercialization of 
genetically modified cotton, which has already been planted 
illicitly in 2006 on some 150,000 hectares (370,000 acres) in 
Brazil.  Despite political opposition, transgenic soybeans were 
provisionally approved in Brazil in 2004 and approval has been 
renewed annually. The government relinquished oversight after many 
farmers were found to have been planting genetically modified crops 
in southern Brazil. 
 
Source - YahooNews 
 
------------ 
Water Issues 
------------ 
 
¶7. Controversial Brazil River Plan Allowed 
 
MAR. 23, 2007 - Brazil's environmental agency on March 23 approved a 
USD2 billion project to shift the course of a major river in Brazil, 
a plan bitterly opposed by environmentalists.  The Sao Francisco 
River project is meant to benefit some 12 million poor people by 
allowing large sections of the country's arid northeast to be 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  005.2 OF 016 
 
 
irrigated, but environmentalists say it could dry up the country's 
fourth largest river for part of the year.  Congress must now 
approve funding for the project in Cabrodo, about 1,100 miles 
northeast of Rio de Janeiro.  Under the plan, a new channel would be 
created for the 1,600-mile-long Sao Francisco River.  But critics 
say the diversion would speed the river's flow toward the ocean, 
possibly causing it to dry up for periods of time. "The license 
issued in a rush by Ibama shows they want to push the project 
through," said Luiz Claudio Mandela of Caritas, a Roman Catholic 
group opposing the project. "For us, it is clear this project is not 
viable.  "Roman Catholic Bishop Luiz Flavio Cappio held an 11-day 
hunger strike in 2005 in an attempt to stop the project. 
 
Source - Chron 
 
¶8. Chile: Lack Of Water Threatens Nature Reserve In Region I 
 
MAR. 21, 2007 - Government authorities reported last week that the 
102,000 hectare Pampa del Tamarugal nature reserve in far northern 
Chile is in serious jeopardy because of a water shortage.  The 
unique nature reserve has 25,000 hectares forested with tamarugo and 
algarrobo trees, which have been able to survive in hostile desert 
conditions because of ample underground aquifers. Annual rainfall in 
the area is 0.5 millimeters.  Studies by the National Forestry 
Corporation (CONAF) and the General Water Directorate (DGA) confirm 
that groundwater levels subsided radically since 1997, and 
authorities attribute the declining water reserves to "illegal water 
wells" built by growing populations nearby and by rogue mining 
companies.  DGA general director Rodrigo Weisner said the problem 
has been growing since 1984, but grew more acute in 1997 when large 
number of illegal wells were drilled near the nature reserve. 
 
Source - Santiago Times 
 
¶9. WWF accuses Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay of degradation in the 
Plata Basin 
 
MAR. 20, 2007 - According to a press report in Brazilian daily O 
Estado de Sao Paulo, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has accused the 
governments of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay of planning a waterway 
in the Plata Basin system without analyzing its eventual 
environmental impact. According to a WWF report, the Plata Basin is 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  006.2 OF 016 
 
 
one of the world's 10 most important endangered fresh water sources. 
The report says that hydroelectric plants and the use of the system 
as a waterway are the major threats to the basin. 
 
Source - Public Affairs US Embassy Brasilia.  See also BBC report 
 
¶10. Latin America: Greater Effort Needed Against Desertification 
 
MAR. 19, 2007 - Non-governmental organizations have called for more 
effective action to halt desertification in Latin America.  That was 
the main result of the 5th session of the application exam committee 
of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, held 
Mar. 12-21 in Buenos Aires with representatives from some 170 
countries.  The Latin American governments have made "great efforts" 
towards progress, said Patricia Maldonado, representative in 
Argentina of the International Network of NGOs on Desertification. 
But 10 years since the Convention entered into force, government 
reports show that actions have proved "insufficient", she told 
Tierramerica.  "We must review the strategies for intervention, 
allow greater participation by the affected communities, and 
decentralize national policies," recommends Maldonado, who heads the 
Llastay Environmental Association in Argentina. 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
------- 
Forests 
------- 
 
¶11. Brazil's New Forestry Law Draws Praise 
 
MAR. 23, 2007- New rules that allow sustainable logging of national 
forests in the threatened Amazon drew guarded praise from both 
environmentalists and loggers.  President Luiz Inacio da Silva 
recently issued rules to carry out the law, passed last year by 
Congress, which opens national forests to use by private companies 
and citizens.  Officials are supposed to create a registry of all 
public lands in the Amazon region and the National Forestry Service 
will then determine which areas can be opened up for concessions. 
Loggers will have to present a plan for sustainable management that 
preserves the forest while allowing commercial profit from it.  "We 
see more positive points than negative points in the decree," 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  007.2 OF 016 
 
 
Marcelo Marquesini, a senior campaigner for Greenpeace, said 
Thursday. "Success or failure of this public policy will depend on 
monitoring and enforcement. If there is no enforcement it will not 
work."  "It's a good move if everybody follows the law, but if some 
people are logging responsibly and others aren't, it won't work. I 
can't compete with those who log without a management plan they can 
sell wood for a fifth of the price that I do," said Marcelo Sobral, 
a logger from the southern state of Curitiba with holdings in the 
Amazon rain forest. 
 
Source - Miami Herald 
 
¶12. Argentina Considers Year-Long Logging Ban 
 
MAR. 2007 - Argentine lawmakers are weighing legislation that would 
impose a one-year nationwide ban on commercial timber cutting, a 
highly controversial proposal that has caused friction within 
President Nestor Kirchner's ruling Front for Victory party. 
Following months of sharp debate within the governing party, the 
Chamber of Deputies-the lower house of Argentina's Congress-voted on 
March 14 in favor of the proposal.  It was unclear, however, when 
the Senate would take up the bill, which reflects growing concern 
here about deforestation as fast-expanding crop farming operations 
consume woodlands in northern provinces.  Under the moratorium bill, 
Argentine provinces would be required to classify and zone 
forestland in categories of low, medium and high levels of 
environmental concern.  And once timber cutting is allowed to 
resume, they must prepare environmental-impact assessments for 
projects that would have significant environmental, aesthetic or 
social effects.  Deforestation worries here have grown since 2003, 
when officials reported that the country's forests cover a total of 
82 million acres (33 million hectares), less than a third of the 262 
million acres (106 million hectares) estimated in an inventory 
completed in 1914. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
¶13. Brazil: Use the Internet to Protect Forests 
 
MAR. 19, 2007 - The Network of Forest Peoples set up antennas and 
equipment to connect eight isolated Brazilian communities and 30 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  008.2 OF 016 
 
 
offices to the Internet with the aim of making them agents of 
environmental defense. The network won a commitment from the 
government to extend connectivity to another 150 indigenous, 
Afro-Brazilia and river communities in the Brazilian interior.  et 
up in 2003, the Network only accepts communities approved in an 
evaluation during a seminar in which they prove "clear and strong 
cultural identity", Joao Augusto Fortes, a co-promoter of the 
endeavor, told Tierramerica.  Once connected, these communities 
receive training and then can quickly report land invasions, 
deforestation and other crimes against them and the environment. 
They also can disseminate their culture, develop eco-tourism and 
export their "sustainable products", said Fortes. 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
-------- 
Wildlife 
-------- 
 
¶14. "Guaranteed Hunts" in Argentina Drawing Fire 
 
MAR. 2007 - Argentine wildlife-conservation groups are denouncing 
the proliferation of so-called guaranteed hunts, in which wild 
animals are captured and then freed at a set time and place to 
ensure they'll be tracked down by the hunters who have paid to kill 
them.   Critics of the practice say organizers of the hunts are 
catering to a growing international clientele attracted to 
Argentina's relatively low costs.  They claim the animals, often 
malnourished and sometimes sedated, include not only the collared 
peccary (Tayassu tajacu), capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and 
puma (Felis concolor), which are legal to hunt in Argentina, but 
also the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) and the jaguar (Panthera 
onca palustris), which are not. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
--------------- 
Protected Areas 
--------------- 
 
¶15. Chile: Ice Fields Could Become Biggest Natural Heritage Site 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  009.2 OF 016 
 
 
 
MAR. 23, 2007 - The Chilean government will nominate six parks and 
reserves in the extreme south of the country, including Torres del 
Paine, for the UNESCO World Natural Heritage list in February 2008. 
The total area covers 7.2 million hectares, and it is unequalled for 
sheer size in this category.  The tentative name for the listing is 
Patagonian Ice Fields of Chile, Andrs Meza, head of protected areas 
and the environment for the government National Forest Corporation 
(CONAF), which is responsible for the initiative, told IPS.  The 
complete site includes ice fields, glaciers and snow-capped peaks in 
the Laguna San Rafael, Bernardo O'Higgins and Torres del Paine 
national parks and the Las Guaitecas, Katalalixar and Alacalufes 
national reserves, located in the Aysen and Magallanes regions, over 
2,000 kilometers south of Santiago. The Patagonian Ice Fields, if 
listed, would be the first Chilean site on the natural heritage 
list. 
 
Source - IPS 
 
-------------------- 
Science & Technology 
-------------------- 
 
¶16. Brazil Will Use Advanced System of Remote Surveillance 
 
MAR. 21, 2007 - Project Maracatu, being developed by the National 
Institute of Space Research (INPE) will construct biodegradable 
nano-robots and micro-satellites to monitor the Amazon. The project 
will provide the installation in orbit over the region of 30 to 40 
micro-satellites weighing between 3 and 4 kilos and thousands of 
nano-robots with sensors of several types. The Maracatu project will 
use 100 percent domestic technology. 
 
Source - Gazeta Mercantil (hard copy) 
 
--------- 
Pollution 
--------- 
 
¶17. Petrobras to Appeal Huge Oil-Spill Award 
 
MAR. 2007 - Brazil's state oil company Petrobras plans to appeal a 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  010.2 OF 016 
 
 
February state court ruling that it pay fishermen indemnities 
totaling Reais 1.1 billion (USD520 million) in the wake of a major 
January 2000 oil spill, calling the decision "patently unfair."  The 
decision concerned a spill in which a pipeline linking a Petrobras 
refinery just outside Rio de Janeiro to an island storage terminal 
ruptured near the point where it enters Rio's storied Guanabara Bay. 
 The 340,000 gallons (1.3 million liters) of released refinery oil 
caused extensive fish kills and polluted mangroves that are crucial 
to the local marine food chain.  In its February ruling, a Rio de 
Janeiro state court based the indemnity amount on an average loss of 
Reais754 (USD356) in monthly income, corrected for inflation, over a 
10-year period for a total of 12,180 fishermen.  Ten years of wages 
were targeted on the assumption that the spill's impacts on marine 
life would be felt for a decade.  Petrobras contends that the only 
fishermen who ought to qualify for indemnities are the 3,339 who 
were registered at the time of the accident as working in Guanabara 
Bay-not the 12,180 who prevailed in last month's ruling. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
-------------- 
Climate Change 
-------------- 
 
¶18. Bolivia: El Nio Has Bigger Bite with Climate Change 
 
MAR. 17, 2007 - Bolivia is entering its fourth month of onslaught 
from El Nio, the climate phenomenon that has grown stronger, and 
threatens to return with even greater force. According to the 
forecasts of the National Weather Service and of the scientific 
community of international agencies, Bolivia's under-secretariat for 
Civil Defense announced earlier this month the end of El Nio, the 
warm phase of what is known as the Southern Oscillation. But heavy 
rains, overflowing rivers and hurricane-force winds have not ended 
in the northeast, while drought, hail and frost persist in the west 
of this land-locked South American nation that is home to all types 
of climates, from tropical in the plains to polar in the Andes 
Mountains. Experts consulted by Tierramrica agreed that the Andean 
region should prepare for more frequent and intense visits from El 
Nio as a result of global climate change.  The greatest threat is 
to the northern department of Pando, which faces heavy flooding from 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  011.2 OF 016 
 
 
rains in neighboring Peru, says the under-secretariat.  Although 
this is rainy season across all of Bolivia, the period that began in 
December is the most severe since 1998. 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
¶19. Bolivia: Reaping the Rewards of the Clean Development Mechanism 
 
MAR. 15, 2007 - Bolivia hopes to mitigate the potential impact of 
climate change by taking advantage of the Kyoto Protocol's clean 
development mechanism, which allows industrialized countries 
committed to greenhouse gas reductions to invest in emission 
reduction projects in developing countries.  According to government 
officials, Bolivia seeks to position itself as a key project host, 
in hopes of attracting investment and generating revenue from the 
sale of resulting certified emission reduction credits.  While an 
admirable goal, regulatory uncertainty has slowed its 
implementation. 
 
Source - LA PAZ 715 
 
------ 
Energy 
------ 
 
¶20. Venezuela's Chvez Pledges "Energy Revolution" 
 
MAR. 2007 - Think of Venezuela and energy conservation probably 
isn't the first thing that comes to mind. The world's fifth largest 
petroleum producer is not only a fossil-fuel heavyweight, it also 
outpaces all other Latin American countries in per-capita energy 
consumption, Venezuelan officials acknowledge.  Small wonder, then, 
that environmentalists were caught off guard when President Hugo 
Chvez last November announced an "energy revolution" whose 
principal goals are to replace incandescent light bulbs with 
energy-saving fluorescent ones in six million homes; pipe natural 
gas to homes; and boost the role of solar and wind systems in 
electricity generation.  On March 12, the government announced it 
had completed the light bulb substitution in 4.2 million 
homes-putting the program over two-thirds of the way to its 
six-million-home goal.  The government also has installed around 90 
solar panels-of a projected 2007 total of over 1,000-for small-scale 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  012.2 OF 016 
 
 
energy generation in isolated communities, schools and health 
clinics that previously lacked electricity. And it has organized, 
financed and assisted neighborhoods in the installation of 
residential natural-gas lines. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
¶21. Brazilian Catholic Church Joins Critics of Ethanol Fuel Boom 
 
MAR. 22, 2007 - The Roman Catholic Church joined a chorus of ethanol 
critics, saying the current boom in alcohol-based fuel might not be 
the blessing Brazil's president says it is.  Brazil, the world's No. 
1 ethanol exporter and its largest Catholic country, is thriving on 
rising interest and investments in ethanol, which powers eight of 
every 10 new Brazilian cars.  Countries as diverse as Japan and 
Italy are negotiating projects to increase production of ethanol, 
made from sugar cane in Brazil.  But the Brazilian Bishops 
Conference, the Church's top body in Brazil, said the government 
first should study the social and environmental effect of stepping 
up production. 
 
Source - IHT 
 
¶22. Uruguay Seeks to Change the Image of Atomic Energy 
 
MAR. 16, 2007 - The Government of Uruguay has begun a public 
campaign to change the negative image the population has of the use 
of atomic energy.  As part of the campaign, the Ministry of 
Industry, Energy, and Mines organized a meeting on the "Role of 
Public Information on Nuclear Technology."  During the meeting, held 
on March 9, Alejandro Nader highlighted the importance of keeping 
the population informed on the uses of this type of energy. 
Although Uruguay does not have nuclear reactors, Nader added that 
the government thinks it is important for the population to be able 
to have an educated opinion on the subject. 
 
Source - SciDev 
 
¶23. Argentina to Produce Biodiesel from Algae 
 
MAR. 10, 2007 - Argentine business entity Oil Fox has announced it 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  013.2 OF 016 
 
 
will produce, at a commercial level, biodiesel from the oil 
extracted from marine algae.  Oil Fox singed an agreement with the 
government of Chubut (Argentine Patagonia) to "plant" four species 
of marine algae in the province.  The production of the oil is 
estimated to be ready in six months and three months later biodiesel 
will be produced.  Approximately USD19 million will be invested in 
the project to produce an estimated 240 thousand tons of 'marine' 
biodiesel per year. 
 
Source - SciDev 
 
¶24. Brazil Biofuel Update, March 2007 
 
MAR. 26, 2007 - Please pay note to Cable BRASILIA 512 for an update 
on biofuel-related news in Brazil.  This months headlines include: 
1) Mexico Seeks Strategic Partnership With Brazilian Ethanol 
Producers; 2)European Union Also Wants Commercial Agreement; 3) 
Brazil Signs Biofuel Agreement With Jamaica; 4) Ethanol Record 
Production; 5) Buses In Sao Paulo To Run On 30 percent Biodiesel 
Mix; 6) Using Ethanol To Generate Electricity; 7) Brazil May Produce 
Ethanol From Sweet Potatoes. 
 
------- 
General 
------- 
 
¶25. Ecuador: Environmentalists Optimistic About Correa 
 
MAR. 2007 - Two months into the term of populist Ecuadorian 
President Rafael Correa, green groups are hoping the environment 
will at last become a first-tier government priority in this 
country, while business leaders worry regulations will tighten. 
Correa, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, took office on 
Jan. 15, promising his policies will "make the human being a higher 
priority than capital."  The inaugural speech heartened 
environmental advocates, as did some of Correa's choices for key 
posts.  Those picks include Maria Fernanda Espinosa, a former World 
Conservation Union (IUCN) official, as foreign minister; consultant 
Alberto Acosta, an outspoken critic of the oil and mineral 
industries, as minister of energy and mines; and academician Fander 
Falconi, who has advocated a moratorium on new oil-drilling 
concessions, as planning secretary.   Correa has further stoked 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  014.2 OF 016 
 
 
environmentalists' expectations by saying he would review the 
impacts of private oil concessions.  For his part, Acosta says if 
pollution impacts are found to outweigh the benefits of the 
concessions, he would "not rule out a petroleum moratorium." 
Moratorium or no, the Correa government does appear more interested 
than previous administrations in developing renewable power sources. 
 In one of its first energy moves, it created the Alternative Energy 
Secretariat for the purpose of promoting clean power such as solar, 
 
SIPDIS 
wind and geothermal energy as well as such new fuels as biodiesel 
and ethanol.   Not all Correa's early moves have pleased green 
groups.  His choice for environment minister, Ana Alban Mora, drew 
scathing reviews from environmentalists for her service in the same 
post under Correa's predecessor, Alfredo Palacio. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
¶26. Study Urges Regional Approach to Development 
 
Mar 22, 2007 - The World Bank, which lends billions of dollars for 
development projects in poor nations, should put more funding into 
multi-country initiatives such as roads and joint electric grids, 
which have shown greater benefits to borrowing nations, according to 
the Bank's internal monitor.  "A stronger Bank role, if underpinned 
by a shift to a more strategic approach, could help countries 
realize this increasing potential of regional cooperation," says an 
analysis released March 22nd by the Bank's Independent Evaluation 
Group (IEG).  It urged the Bank to establish more effective regional 
program strategies and integrate them into its Country Assistance 
Strategies, prescriptions for economic liberalization that borrowing 
nations agree to in return for loans. "The potential contribution of 
regional programs is likely to grow as the cross-border dimensions 
of health, infrastructure, environment, and trade facilitation take 
on ever-increasing significance," says the report.  Cooperation 
across borders is also increasingly helping to control the spread of 
communicable diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS, and helping to 
manage the 60 percent of the world's freshwater that derives from 
shared river systems, says the IEG. 
 
Source - IPS 
 
¶27. Brazil Needs Foreign Money to Preserve the Amazon 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  015.2 OF 016 
 
 
 
MAR. 20, 2007 - A press report in Brazilian daily O Estado de S. 
Paulo highlights that the money for forest preservation invested by 
the nine Brazilian states that comprise the "Legal Amazon" region is 
less than the help received from foreign nations and NGOs.  Europe, 
the U.S. and Japan devoted about USD 52 million to preserve the 
Amazon forest, while the Brazilian states spent USD 45 million on 
preservation projects.  Story said that Amazonas Governor Eduardo 
Braga (PMDB), recently spent two weeks in Washington, New York, and 
London seeking new investors interested in applying funds to help 
local communities, which would receive aid in exchange for 
protecting the forest. 
 
Source - Public Affairs US Embassy Brasilia 
 
¶28. Details of Al Gore's Upcoming Trip to Chile Revealed 
 
MAR. 19, 2007 - Former U.S. Vice President and newly turned 
global-warming celebrity Al Gore will visit Chile on May 11 to 
promote the fight against global warming.  But Gore's stay will be 
brief. After his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" took home an 
Oscar, the speaker and activist's schedule has been so packed that 
the former VP will remain in the country for only hours.  For the 
few hours he spends in Chile, Gore will take home around USD200,000, 
the fee he is charging companies that sponsored his visit, including 
the environmental NGO Oikos, Chilevision, and the El Mercurio news 
daily.  All carbon emissions generated from the trip will also be 
tracked, and a donation will be made to make the trip "carbon 
neutral."  Gore's donation will go towards a project in Chile. One 
suggested option was a donation to help reforest Chile's Easter 
Island (Rapi Nui). 
 
Source - Santiago Times (no link) 
 
¶29. New Environment Ministry for Chile 
 
MAR. 16, 2007 - Chile is establishing a new Environment Ministry 
that should elevate the importance of ecological issues within the 
cabinet.  President Michelle Bachelet signed Law 20.173 on March 15 
that promotes the National Environment Commission (CONAMA) to 
ministerial level. She asserted that the new ministry will tighten 
the framework for environmental evaluations that are required before 
 
BRASILIA 00000580  016.2 OF 016 
 
 
certain operations such as manufacturing can be established. The 
pro-business government has also promised that the ministry will 
speed up the process of securing such evaluations. Chile has 
measures in place to combat pollution in the capital Santiago and 
launched an integrated transport system to help ease the pressure on 
the city. The Transantiago system is experiencing serious problems, 
however, provoking fierce protests that resulted in the shooting of 
15-year old in the early hours of yesterday morning. 
 
Source - Global Insight Daily Analysis 
 
Chicola