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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 BRASILIA 000454 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RETRANSMITTAL - ORIGINAL ACTION TO SECSTATE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID TBIO ECON SOCI XR BR
SUBJECT: SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 108 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  001.3 OF 016 
 
 
¶1.  The following is the one hundred eigth 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.  NOTE: THE NEWSLETTER IS NOW 
ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE BRASILIA INTRANET PAGE, BY CLICKING ON THE 
'HUB' LINK. 
 
¶2. Table of Contents 
 
Agriculture 
-- Argentina: Study Proves Glyphosate Toxic 
-- Continued Soy Expansion Worries Argentina 
 
Health 
--Yellow Fever: First Possible Death Reported In Argentina 
--WHO Wants Agreement With Brazil To Increase Yellow Fever Vaccine 
Production 
 
Water Issues 
--Short On Water, Mine Sector Looks Seaward 
--Brazil: Classifying Underground Waters 
 
Forests 
--Million Acres of Guyanese Rainforest to Be Saved in Groundbreaking 
Deal 
--Activist Bishop Receives Death Threats in Brazilian Amazon 
--Brazil: Snakes Invade Brazilian City As Forest Disappears 
--Brazil: Managed Forestry Offers Hope of Saving Amazon 
--Bolivia Loses 270,000 hectares of Forest Annually 
 
Fishing & Marine Conservation 
--Salmon Virus Indicts Chile's Fishing Methods 
--Anti-Whaling Initiatives Set To Play Out In Chile 
--Artisan Fishermen in Chile's VIII Region Protest Quota System 
--Brazil: Fisherfolk to the Turtle Rescue! 
 
Protected Areas 
--Highest Peak in the Americas Attracting Trekkers-and Trash 
--Argentina: Historic Ruling Defends Wetland 
 
Science & Technology 
--Argentina to invest US$150 million in Science Infrastructure 
 
Pollution 
--Peru Tribe Battles Oil Giant over Pollution 
 
Climate Change 
--Study Confirms Chile Glacier Retreat 
--La Nia and Climate Confusion 
 
Infrastructure Development 
--Road to Progress, or to Eco-Degradation? 
 
Energy 
--Chile: Law Suit Filed Against Puerto Montt Diesel Generator 
--Chile Spends US$10.7 Billion on Energy in 2007 
--Criticisms Multiply Against Binational Dam 
--Chile's Congress Approves Renewable Energy 
Law/energy/article/32352 
--Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia Agree To Build Five Joint Hydro Power 
Plants 
 
----------- 
Agriculture 
----------- 
 
¶3. Argentina: Study Proves Glyphosate Toxic 
 
MAR. 24, 2008 - The herbicide glyphosate, used in Argentina to 
eliminate weeds in soybean fields, takes time to degrade and is not 
innocuous, says a study by researchers from various Argentine 
institutions.  "Its toxicity was known, but it was thought to 
degrade much more quickly than it does and that its residues were 
absorbed without effect; but we found that such is not the case," 
Horacio Zagarese, of the Chascomus Technological Institute, told 
Tierramerica.  Along with researchers at the universities of Buenos 
Aires and La Plata, Zagarese's team found that glyphosate, also used 
to destroy illegal coca plantations in Colombia, drives up the 
concentration of phosphorous in lakes and ponds, and alters the 
presence of algae that are the basis of the aquatic food chain. 
"With soy being the most extensive crop in Argentina and if tons of 
glyphosate are used, it's evident that in the long term this will 
have an impact," he said. 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  002.3 OF 016 
 
 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
¶4. Continued Soy Expansion Worries Argentina 
 
MAR. 2008 - Every year Argentine soy farmers seem to set new 
records-in land area under cultivation, in production, in tons 
exported, in foreign-exchange earnings.  As they do, analysts worry 
that the trend is getting out of hand.  Concern about soy 
monoculture is not new.  Experts have warned for several years that 
expanding soy cultivation-driven by demand from the developing 
world, particularly China and India-is crowding out other forms of 
agriculture.  In the process, they've said, it has caused soil 
depletion in the humid pampas, one of the world's most fertile 
regions, and deforestation in northern Argentina.  Now, however, 
even those who promoted soy cultivation have become worried as 
farming of the crop has continued to spread. Government officials 
have joined the chorus, citing over-reliance on a single crop and 
inflationary effects from rising soy prices to justify an increase 
in the federal tax on soy exports to 44.1% from the previous 35%. 
Critics argue the real reason for the tax hike was to fill public 
coffers further.  The government, already riding high on soy-levy 
revenues, stands to gain well over US$1.0 billion this year from the 
increase announced in March.  But when Economy Minister Martin 
Lousteau, in announcing the tax hike, cited the importance of 
stopping the advance of "soyzation," he was echoing the sentiments 
of many experts who fear the consequences here of soy's relentless 
advance. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
------ 
Health 
------ 
 
¶5. Dengue Claims 54 Lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
 
MAR. 27, 2008 - A dengue epidemic has claimed at least 54 lives in 
Rio de Janeiro state since January.  Brazilian Health Minister Jose 
Temporao said that 1,200 soldiers from the army, air force and navy 
would be deployed to set up three field hospitals, while an 
additional 500 would spray insecticide and place poison in standing 
puddles of water where the mosquitoes breed.  More than 43,000 
people have contracted disease since January 2008 in Rio de Janeiro 
state - nearly double the 25,107 cases reported in all of 2007. The 
state is home to 16 million people.  On March 26, Rio de Janeiro 
state Governor Sergio Cabral ordered health officials to break into 
homes suspected of containing standing bodies of water if the owners 
could not be found. 
 
Source - Yahoo News 
 
¶6. Yellow Fever: First Possible Death Reported In Argentina 
 
MAR. 12, 2008 - A logger is suspected to be the first fatal case of 
yellow fever in Argentina since the 2007 outbreak in neighboring 
Paraguay. The man, 39, together with a crew of men was logging in 
the northern province of Misiones and according to local sanitary 
officials had all the symptoms of the mosquito transmitted viral 
disease.  Five more loggers in the crew are considered "risk" cases 
and blood samples have been sent to Buenos Aires for testing. They 
are under surveillance in a Misiones province hospital.  Argentine 
federal health authorities have extended compulsory vaccination to 
five more provinces bordering with Paraguay and /or Misiones 
province.  In the last nine months there have been 16 proven fatal 
cases of yellow fever in Paraguay and 17 in Brazil.  Officials from 
Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru will 
coordinate and monitor yellow fever immunization for people living 
in border areas, as well as efforts to eradicate the 
disease-spreading insects, the Pan American Health Organization 
said. 
 
Source -MercoPress 
 
¶7. WHO Wants Agreement With Brazil To Increase Yellow Fever Vaccine 
Production 
 
FEB. 28, 2008 - The World Health Organization is going to propose an 
agreement with Brazil to increase the production of yellow fever 
vaccine until the end of the year. According to press reports, the 
WHO has only 6 million doses of vaccine in stock, after lending 4 
million to Brazil and 2 million to Paraguay, but believes that that 
number won't be enough to deal with a possible epidemic in Africa 
and in Latin America. 
 
Source - O Estado de Sao Paulo 
 
------------ 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  003.3 OF 016 
 
 
Water Issues 
------------ 
 
¶8. Short on Water, Mine Sector Looks Seaward in Argentina 
 
MAR. 2008 - The Israel-owned Mekorot Water Company has begun 
feasibility studies for a seawater desalination plant at the 
iron-ore mine MCC Minera Sierra Grande, located in Argentina's Ro 
Negro province.  In Chile and Peru, meanwhile, gold and copper mines 
already have started desalinating Pacific Ocean water to counter 
growing concern that the mining sector is consuming inordinate 
shares of the two nations' supplies of fresh water.  Mining accounts 
for the lion's share of Peruvian and Chilean exports, as increasing 
international demand pushes gold and copper prices close to record 
highs.  Although not as dependent on mining, Argentina has begun 
tapping its substantial mineral deposits-mainly copper and gold, but 
also iron and aluminum-in both its northwest provinces and the 
southern Patagonia region.  In recent years, water has become an 
increasingly sensitive subject for Latin America's fast-growing 
mining industry, which uses vast quantities of water-and 
electricity.  Mines not only strain water supplies on account of 
their heavy consumption, but also diminish acceptability of existing 
sources via heavy metal contamination. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
¶9. Brazil: Classifying Underground Waters 
 
MAR. 24, 2008 - Underground waters in Brazil are already categorized 
according to their characteristics and degrees of contamination, and 
an indication of the appropriate use for each aquifer.  According to 
their natural hydrogeochemical characteristics, the waters would be 
classified in five categories, as well as a "special class" for 
aquifers earmarked for preservation of ecosystems or for feeding 
lakes and rivers.  The National Environment Council adopted the 
measure on Mar. 12 with the aim of monitoring and protecting water 
resource quality, as decontamination is costly and slow. 
Previously, underground waters were polluted with no control of 
state agencies. "Now we will be able to promote better water 
resource management and zoning," Council technical adviser Cleidemar 
Batista told Tierramerica. 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
------- 
Forests 
------- 
 
¶10. Million Acres of Guyanese Rainforest to Be Saved in 
Groundbreaking Deal 
 
MAR. 27, 2008 - A deal has been agreed that will place a financial 
value on rainforests - paying, for the first time, for their upkeep 
as "utilities" that provide vital services such as rainfall 
generation, carbon storage and climate regulation.  The agreement 
will secure the future of one million acres of pristine rainforest 
in Guyana and will open the way for financial markets to play a key 
role in safeguarding the fate of the world's forests.  The 
initiative, the first of its kind, follows Guyana's extraordinary 
offer to place its entire standing forest under the protection of a 
British-led international body in return for development aid. The 
deal, drawn up by the international firm Stephenson Harwood, is the 
first serious attempt to pay for ecosystem services provided by 
rainforests. 
 
Source - The Independent 
 
¶11. Activist Bishop Receives Death Threats in Brazilian Amazon 
 
MAR. 26, 2008 - A shadowy consortium of ranchers and loggers has put 
a $500,000 price tag on the head of a bishop who defends poor 
settlers and Indians in the Amazon, according to a human rights 
group.  The consortium has apparently mapped out a detailed plan to 
kill Bishop Erwin Krautler, an Austrian national who has worked in 
the largely lawless northern state of Para since 1980, according to 
the Catholic Church-linked Indigenous Missionary Council.  Powerful 
Amazon business interests have criticized the 69-year-old Krautler, 
who often protests land grabbing, debt slavery and environmental 
destruction.  The bishop has been under police protection since last 
year, according to Para state police spokesman Emanuel Villaca. 
 
Source - The Associated Press 
 
¶12. Brazil: Snakes Invade Brazilian City As Forest Disappears 
 
MAR. 19, 2008 - Snakes -- including one 10-foot anaconda -- are 
increasingly invading the eastern Amazon's largest city Belem.  The 
snakes are driven from the rain forest by destruction of their 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  004.2 OF 016 
 
 
 
MAR. 27, 2008 - A dengue epidemic has claimed at least 54 lives in 
Rio de Janeiro state since January.  Brazilian Health Minister Jose 
Temporao said that 1,200 soldiers from the army, air force and navy 
would be deployed to set up three field hospitals, while an 
additional 500 would spray insecticide and place poison in standing 
puddles of water where the mosquitoes breed.  More than 43,000 
people have contracted disease since January 2008 in Rio de Janeiro 
state - nearly double the 25,107 cases reported in all of 2007. The 
state is home to 16 million people.  On March 26, Rio de Janeiro 
state Governor Sergio Cabral ordered health officials to break into 
homes suspected of containing standing bodies of water if the owners 
could not be found. 
 
Source - Yahoo News 
 
¶6. Yellow Fever: First Possible Death Reported In Argentina 
 
MAR. 12, 2008 - A logger is suspected to be the first fatal case of 
yellow fever in Argentina since the 2007 outbreak in neighboring 
Paraguay. The man, 39, together with a crew of men was logging in 
the northern province of Misiones and according to local saitary 
officials had all the symptoms of the mosqito transmitted viral 
disease.  Five more logger in the crew are considered "risk" cases 
and blod samples have been sent to Buenos Aires for testin. They 
are under surveillance in a Misiones provnce hospital.  Argentine 
federal health authorites have extended compulsory vaccination to 
five ore provinces bordering with Paraguay and /or Misines 
province.  In the last nine months there havebeen 16 proven fatal 
cases of yellow fever in Paaguay and 17 in Brazil.  Officials from 
Paraguay Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru will 
coordinate and monitor yellow fever immunizationfor people living 
in border areas, as well as effrts to eradicate the 
disease-spreading insects, the Pan American Health Organization 
said. 
 
Source -MercoPress 
 
¶7. WHO Wants Agreement With Brazil To Increase Yellow Fever Vaccine 
Production 
 
FEB. 28, 2008 - The World Health Organization is going to propose an 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  005.2 OF 016 
 
 
agreement with Brazil to increase the production of yellow fever 
vaccine until the end of the year. According to press reports, the 
WHO has only 6 million doses of vaccine in stock, after lending 4 
million to Brazil and 2 million to Paraguay, but believes that that 
number won't be enough to deal with a possible epidemic in Africa 
and in Latin America. 
 
Source - O Estado de Sao Paulo 
 
------------ 
Water Issues 
------------ 
 
¶8. Short on Water, Mine Sector Looks Seaward in Argentina 
 
MAR. 2008 - The Israel-owned Mekorot Water Company has begun 
feasibility studies for a seawater desalination plant at the 
iron-ore mine MCC Minera Sierra Grande, located in Argentina's Ro 
Negro province.  In Chile and Peru, meanwhile, gold and copper mines 
already have started desalinating Pacific Ocean water to counter 
growing concern that the mining sector is consuming inordinate 
shares of the two nations' supplies of fresh water.  Mining accounts 
for the lion's share of Peruvian and Chilean exports, as increasing 
international demand pushes gold and copper prices close to record 
highs.  Although not as dependent on mining, Argentina has begun 
tapping its substantial mineral deposits-mainly copper and gold, but 
also iron and aluminum-in both its northwest provinces and the 
southern Patagonia region.  In recent years, water has become an 
increasingly sensitive subject for Latin America's fast-growing 
mining industry, which uses vast quantities of water-and 
electricity.  Mines not only strain water supplies on account of 
their heavy consumption, but also diminish acceptability of existing 
sources via heavy metal contamination. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
¶9. Brazil: Classifying Underground Waters 
 
MAR. 24, 2008 - Underground waters in Brazil are already categorized 
according to their characteristics and degrees of contamination, and 
an indication of the appropriate use for each aquifer.  According to 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  006.2 OF 016 
 
 
their natural hydrogeochemical characteristics, the waters would be 
classified in five categories, as well as a "special class" for 
aquifers earmarked for preservation of ecosystems or for feeding 
lakes and rivers.  The National Environment Council adopted the 
measure on Mar. 12 with the aim of monitoring and protecting water 
resource quality, as decontamination is costly and slow. 
Previously, underground waters were polluted with no control of 
state agencies. "Now we will be able to promote better water 
resource management and zoning," Council technical adviser Cleidemar 
Batista told Tierramerica. 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
------- 
Forests 
------- 
 
¶10. Million Acres of Guyanese Rainforest to Be Saved in 
Groundbreaking Deal 
 
MAR. 27, 2008 - A deal has been agreed that will place a financial 
value on rainforests - paying, for the first time, for their upkeep 
as "utilities" that provide vital services such as rainfall 
generation, carbon storage and climate regulation.  The agreement 
will secure the future of one million acres of pristine rainforest 
in Guyana and will open the way for financial markets to play a key 
role in safeguarding the fate of the world's forests.  The 
initiative, the first of its kind, follows Guyana's extraordinary 
offer to place its entire standing forest under the protection of a 
British-led international body in return for development aid. The 
deal, drawn up by the international firm Stephenson Harwood, is the 
first serious attempt to pay for ecosystem services provided by 
rainforests. 
 
Source - The Independent 
 
¶11. Activist Bishop Receives Death Threats in Brazilian Amazon 
 
MAR. 26, 2008 - A shadowy consortium of ranchers and loggers has put 
a $500,000 price tag on the head of a bishop who defends poor 
settlers and Indians in the Amazon, according to a human rights 
group.  The consortium has apparently mapped out a detailed plan to 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  007.2 OF 016 
 
 
kill Bishop Erwin Krautler, an Austrian national who has worked in 
the largely lawless northern state of Para since 1980, according to 
the Catholic Church-linked Indigenous Missionary Council.  Powerful 
Amazon business interests have criticized the 69-year-old Krautler, 
who often protests land grabbing, debt slavery and environmental 
destruction.  The bishop has been under police protection since last 
year, according to Para state police spokesman Emanuel Villaca. 
 
Source - The Associated Press 
 
¶12. Brazil: Snakes Invade Brazilian City As Forest Disappears 
 
MAR. 19, 2008 - Snakes -- including one 10-foot anaconda -- are 
increasingly invading the eastern Amazon's largest city Belem.  The 
snakes are driven from the rain forest by destruction of their 
natural habitat, according to IBAMA, the Brazilian government's 
environmental protection agency.  Ibama has been called out to 
capture 21 snakes this year in Belem, Brazil, a sprawling metropolis 
of 1.5 million people at the mouth of the Amazon River.  In normal 
years, Ibama receives one or two calls a month.  Ibama believes the 
increasing snake presence is a result of rising deforestation by 
loggers, ranchers and developers in the Amazon jungle surrounding 
the Belem urban area.  "Deforestation destroys their habitat, so 
they come to the city," reports a veterinary team that captures the 
snakes and takes them to a zoo or to an outlying park for release. 
 
Source - CNN 
 
¶13. Brazil: Managed Forestry Offers Hope of Saving Amazon 
 
FEB. 18, 2008 - Buzzing chain saws and heavy machinery hauling logs 
through the Amazon jungle may look at first like reckless 
destruction.  But a forestry project on the Jari River in northern 
Brazil is being hailed as a model for preserving the world's largest 
rain forest.  "Selling certified timber harvested in a sustainable 
way is the only solution for the Amazon," said Augusto Praxedes 
Neto, a manager at Brazilian pulp and paper company Grupo ORSA.  For 
five years ORSA has managed the world's largest private tropical 
forest, located on either side of the Jari River in the northeastern 
Amazon region.  It harvests only 30 cubic meters (12,713 board feet) 
of timber per hectare (2.47 acres) every 30 years, just under the 
natural regeneration rate. Trees are felled and transported in a 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  008.2 OF 016 
 
 
manner to produce minimal impact on the forest, and are then 
recorded in a computerized inventory. 
 
Source - Reuters 
 
¶14. Bolivia Loses 270,000 hectares of Forest Annually 
 
MAR. 16, 2008 - According to the Vice-Minister of Biodiversity in 
Bolivia, Bolivia loses 270,000 hectares of forest annually due to 
the expansion of the agricultural frontier.  The departments (i.e. 
states) most affected are La Paz, Santa Cruz, Beni, and Pando. 
Forests cover 50 million hectares - or 46% - of the country's 
territory.  Over 1,400 reports of illegal deforestation were 
documented in 2007.  Poverty in rural areas, lack of environmental 
education, and the increasing demand for forest products are 
indicated as primary causes of deforestation in the country. 
 
Source - Univision 
 
----------------------------- 
Fishing & Marine Conservation 
----------------------------- 
 
¶15. Salmon Virus Indicts Chile's Fishing Methods 
 
MAR. 27, 2008- A virus called infectious salmon anemia, or I.S.A., 
is killing millions of salmon destined for export to Japan, Europe 
and the United States. The spreading plague has sent shivers through 
Chile's third-largest export industry, which has left local people 
embittered by lay-offs of more than 1,000 workers.  It has also 
opened the companies to fresh charges from biologists and 
environmentalists who say that the breeding of salmon in crowded 
underwater pens is contaminating once-pristine waters and producing 
potentially unhealthy fish.  Some say the industry is raising its 
fish in ways that court disaster, and producers are coming under new 
pressure to change their methods to preserve southern Chile's cobalt 
blue waters for tourists and other marine life. 
 
Source - The New York Times (please contact Larissa Stoner for 
complete article) 
 
¶16. Anti-Whaling Initiatives Set To Play Out In Chile 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  009.2 OF 016 
 
 
 
MAR. 2008 - Environmental groups plan to press for a ban on whaling 
in the southern oceans at the next meeting of the International 
Whaling Commission (IWC), slated to be held in May in Santiago, 
Chile.  Meanwhile, the Chilean government, which has been outspoken 
in its opposition to Japanese whaling, is considering declaring all 
waters within its 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) a permanent 
sanctuary for whales and other cetaceans.  And green groups are 
urging Chile to propose a Latin-America-wide agreement to declare 
all EEZ waters in the region-from Mexico to Antarctica-off limits to 
whaling, according to Juan Carlos Crdenas, executive director of 
the Santiago-based green group Ecoceanos. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas 
 
¶17. Artisan Fishermen in Chile's VIII Region Protest Quota System 
 
MAR. 12, 2008 - Artisan fishermen in Chile's VIII Region protested 
March 10 against irregularities in the distribution of the country's 
sardine and anchovy quota system that favors commercial fishing 
interests. The fishermen claim that 70 percent of the total 
allotment is designated for a small number of large commercial 
vessels, while some 340 smaller boats, each with an average of ten 
fishermen, must compete for the remaining 30 percent.  The conflict 
stems from a 2007 decision by Chile's National Fishing Authority to 
increase the fishing industry's annual sardine and anchovy quota. 
The country's artisan fishermen objected to that move as well, 
maintaining that it favored the interests of larger commercial 
enterprises at their expense.  The criteria for determining the 
fishing quotas were based on statistics from 2002 - 2004, including 
a vessel's frequency of catches and average haul over those years, 
as well as the number of years an enterprise has been involved in 
fishing.  According to Chile's Confederation of Artesian Fishermen 
(CONAPACH), irregularities in the calculations resulted in some 
artisan fishermen with over three decades of experience being 
excluded from the quotas entirely. 
 
Source - Santiago Times 
 
¶18. Brazil: Fisherfolk to the Turtle Rescue! 
 
MAR. 10, 2008 - A conservation campaign is motivating fisherfolk in 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  010.2 OF 016 
 
 
southern Brazil to fight accidental capture of sea turtles.   The 
mission of the Tamar Project (Brazilian Program for the Conservation 
of Sea Turtles) in Florianopolis (southern Brazil) is to raise 
awareness among the local residents about the need to conserve the 
turtles, and to work with local fishing families to reduce 
accidental capture.  Fisherman Josemar Teixeira reported to 
Tierramerica that until a few years ago each time a turtle ended up 
in his nets it would be shared among everyone to eat.  But since the 
Tamar project began in 2005 that practice stopped in Florianopolis 
"because we all know it is prohibited," he adds.  Unlike traditional 
fishhooks, in the form of a "J" and with sharp points, the new hooks 
used by fisherfolk are more rounded and closed, making it difficult 
for a turtle to get caught on them, and if it were to occur, "it 
would reduce the impact of the injury," said the biologist.  In a 
year of tests with the new hooks, the turtles brought in by the 
fishers have suffered much lighter injury. The center rehabilitated 
94 turtles in 2007. 
 
Source - Tierreamerica 
 
--------------- 
Protected Areas 
--------------- 
 
¶19. Argentina: Historic Ruling Defends Wetland 
 
MAR. 10, 2008 .- A 20-kilometer embankment constructed by an 
agri-business firm in the Esteros del Ibera wetlands, in the eastern 
Argentine province of Corrientes, must be demolished, says a court 
order.  In an unprecedented decision, the Corrientes Superior Court 
of Justice upheld the ruling of two lower courts in a case filed in 
2005 by a resident when the embankment was just 1.5 km long.  "It is 
an historic ruling. It was a completely illegal project because it 
was inside the reserve," Jorge Cappato, an activist with the 
environmental group Fundacion Proteger, told Tierramerica.  Along 
with the recently enacted Forestry Law, this decision is "one of the 
two best news items in recent years for Argentina in the area of 
sustainable development," he added.  Esteros del Ibera is a 
freshwater wetland extending over 1.4 million hectares and holds a 
vast array of plant and animal species, including many that are 
endangered. 
 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  011.2 OF 016 
 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
¶20. Highest Peak in the Americas Attracting Trekkers-and Trash 
 
MAR. 2008 - Rising 22,841 feet (6,962 meters) above sea level, 
Argentina's Aconcagua is the highest peak in the Americas and the 
object of many a mountain climber's most ambitious dreams.  With a 
fast-growing number of those dreams becoming reality, however, 
Aconcagua and the natural area containing it are being spoiled by 
large quantities of trash left behind by trekkers and climbers.  The 
number of visits to the 175,000-acre (71,000-ha) protected 
area-Aconcagua Provincial Park, located in Mendoza province-has 
increased dramatically in recent years.  Increasingly, visitors are 
complaining about packaging, food and human waste littering the 
landscape-particularly at campsites located above 16,000 feet (5,000 
meters), where there are no permanent park-ranger stations. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas 
 
-------------------- 
Science & Technology 
-------------------- 
 
¶21. Argentina to invest US$150 million in Science Infrastructure 
 
MAR. 01, 2008 - The Government of Argentina presented an 
infrastructure plan for science and technology for the period 
between 2008 and 2011, which will have a budget of US$150 million 
and will be carried out by the Ministries of Planning and Science. 
According to the Minister of Science Lino Baranao, 137,650 square 
meters of new buildings destined for science and technological 
production. 
 
Source - SciDev 
 
--------- 
Pollution 
--------- 
 
¶22. Peru Tribe Battles Oil Giant over Pollution 
 
MAR. 26, 2008 - It is a familiar story. Big business moves into a 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  012.2 OF 016 
 
 
pristine wilderness and starts destroying the environment and the 
livelihoods of the indigenous people who live there.  But in a 
reversal of plot, there are now cases of people living traditional 
lifestyles who are now invading the territory of the big companies 
and taking them on at their own game. The story of the Achuar tribe 
living in the Amazon rainforest of north-eastern Peru is one of 
them.  Last year, they filed a class action lawsuit against oil 
giant Occidental Petroleum, in Los Angeles.  Now they are awaiting a 
judge's decision on whether the case can proceed in the US or will 
be sent back to Peru, where it stands little chance of coming to 
court. 
 
Source - BBC 
 
-------------- 
Climate Change 
-------------- 
 
¶23. Study Confirms Chile Glacier Retreat 
 
MAR. 11, 2008 - Researchers at Santiago's Universidad Tecnologica 
Metropolitana (UTEM) have confirmed that the O'Higgins glacier in 
Chile's Southern Ice Field is one of the sector's four 
fastest-receding ice masses.  The study, conducted over the past two 
years by UTEM cartographers Ivan Gabriel Soto and Claudio Vargas, 
measured the volume and position of the glacier between 1961 and 
¶2001.  Using GPS technology and satellite imagery, the scientists 
found that the O'Higgins glacier receded nearly eight kilometers and 
lost 6.8 cubic kilometers in volume over the relevant time period, a 
consequence of global climate change.  To put that amount in 
perspective, Juan Oscar Martinez, UTEM's director of Cartography, 
said that 6.8 cubic kilometers is roughly 26 times the volume of 
Chile's El Yeso reservoir in the Cajon de Maipo, the principal water 
source for the Santiago Metropolitan Region's six million 
inhabitants. In January, Chile's Water Management Authority (DGA) 
announced the creation of a Snow and Glacier Unit to study melting 
in Chile's glacial regions more thoroughly. The agency hopes to 
designate certain parts of southern Chile with a high concentration 
of glaciers as protected areas in order to stem further melting. 
 
Source - Santiago Times 
 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  013.2 OF 016 
 
 
¶24. La Nina and Climate Confusion 
 
MAR. 10, 2008 - It is still difficult to predict the local impacts 
of the cyclic climate phenomenon known as La Nina, which has been 
responsible for catastrophic floods in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and 
Argentina, and -- on the other extreme -- severe drought in Chile. 
The death toll has already reached about 100, and around one million 
people have been affected by the floods and drought.  La Nina is 
characterized by an atypical cooling of the surface waters of the 
ocean and an increase in the winds blowing east to west at the 
equator. The better known El Nino is the opposite: warmer surface 
waters and weaker winds.  La Nina tends to provoke intense rains in 
Colombia, Ecuador, the high plains of Bolivia and Peru and 
northwestern Argentina, and drought in Uruguay, southern Brazil, 
northeastern Argentina and central Chile. 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
-------------------------- 
Infrastructure Development 
-------------------------- 
 
¶25. Road to Progress, or to Eco-Degradation? 
 
MAR. 2008 - For the locals who use it regularly, the old Colombian 
road from Mocoa in the department of Putumayo to Pasto, which is in 
the department of Nario, has been a curse since it was built in the 
1930s.  Each trip means stopping repeatedly and backing up to allow 
a vehicle to squeeze past in the opposite direction.  Residents here 
are tired of the road. They are tired of watching people die on it. 
But now the prayers of the citizens of Putumayo and Nario are being 
answered: a US$183 million project, which includes widening and 
surfacing some sections of the old road and building a 28-mile 
(45-km) new stretch, is underway and will be finished by 2010.  The 
new Mocoa-Pasto road is part of the Initiative for the Integration 
of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA), a US$55 
billion project of South American nations to integrate their 
highways, waterways, energy grids and pipelines.  But like many 
IIRSA projects, the new road also poses real risks.  It could open 
the once-isolated Mocoa region to logging, mining and oil operations 
and attract thousands of migrants from both Colombia and neighboring 
nations.  Environmentalists say an intense increase in development 
 
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activity could wreak havoc on southwestern Colombia's Andean-Amazon 
Piedmont region, which the road traverses.  The balancing of 
development against cultural and environmental concerns is a common 
challenge raised by IIRSA, which was born in 2000 at a meeting in 
Braslia of South America's presidents and involves some 335 
projects funded by governments and such multilateral organizations 
as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Andean 
Development Corporation (CAF). 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete 
article) 
 
------ 
Energy 
------ 
 
¶26. Chile: Law Suit Filed Against Puerto Montt Diesel Generator 
 
MAR. 26, 2008 - A US$43.2 million, 90 MW diesel-powered electricity 
generating plant planned for Trapen, near the outskirts of Puerto 
Montt (Region X), has sparked strong public opposition and 
contributed to the growing national debate about Chile's lack of an 
energy policy.  After taking over the Route 5 twice earlier this 
year to draw attention to their health, safety and environmental 
concerns posed by the diesel generator, local residents filed a 
lawsuit to stop the project.  Community leaders assert that the 
Trapen diesel-powered plant - proposed by a Santiago-based firm 
called Energia Latina S.A. - was hastily approved by regional 
environmental authorities in a matter of days without any public 
notice or review. They also assert that Energia Latina's diesel 
project plan was misleading and inaccurate. 
 
Source - Santiago Times 
 
¶27. Criticisms Multiply Against Argentina, Brazil Binational Dam 
 
MAR. 24, 2008 - Under pressure from rising energy demands, the 
governments of Argentina and Brazil are taking a new look at old 
plans for the Garabi hydroelectric dam on the Uruguay River. 
Ecologists say it would endanger the flow of this already highly 
exploited water source.  In late February, Argentina's President 
Cristina Fernandez and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  015.2 OF 016 
 
 
ratified the decision to relaunch work on the binational Garabi dam, 
first planned in 1972. A technical commission was created to oversee 
the preliminary work and construction is slated to begin in 2011. 
The first Argentine-Brazilian dam would have an energy-generating 
potential of 2,800 megawatts and would mean flooding 33,000 hectares 
of inhabited land on both sides of the river. Its location would be 
on the stretch between the far northeastern Argentine province of 
Corrientes and the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. 
Also planned are two more Argentine-Brazilian dams along the same 
river: San Pedro and Roncador. 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
¶28. Chile Spends US$10.7 Billion on Energy in 2007 
 
MAR. 24, 2008 - Chile spent US$10.7 billion to satisfy its energy 
needs in 2007, about twice what the country should have spent for 
energy, according to a report released by the Santiago Chamber of 
Commerce (CCS).  The CCS report attributed the extra energy costs to 
special circumstances related to a natural gas shortfall from 
Argentina, sharply higher world prices for petroleum products, and 
the current drought plaguing most of the country.  Chile's recent 
energy costs amount to approximately 7 percent of the nation's Gross 
National Product.  Still, these "special circumstances" seem 
unlikely to change in the mid to long term: world petroleum reserves 
are on a downhill trajectory according to most experts, meaning 
prices are going no where but up, and Argentina's natural gas 
shipments will continue limited according to Argentine energy 
experts. The CCS's report also found that the nation has spent 
US$9.3 billion in "extra" energy costs since 2004, when the energy 
sector's problems first began to take a larger profile in the 
nation's conscience. 
 
Source - Santiago Times 
 
¶29. Chile's Congress Approves Renewable Energy 
Law/energy/article/32352 
 
MAR. 06, 2008 - Chile's Congress voted on March 5th to require 
electric utilities to invest in and supply nonconventional energy 
sources (NCES) as part of the government's drive to diversify 
current tight energy supplies.  The vote in favor of the project, 
 
BRASILIA 00000454  016.2 OF 016 
 
 
which mandates that NCES account for at least 10 percent of the 
energy supplied by Chile's electric utilities by 2024, was 
unanimous.  The next step is for the project to be signed into law 
by the president.  Nonconventional energy sources include wind, 
solar, geothermal, hydraulic and other forms of energy that have low 
environmental impact and are still not widely used in the local 
market.  Chile, which imports nearly all of the fuel it consumes, 
has been grappling with a serious energy shortage amid cuts in 
natural gas from sole supplier Argentina and lower hydroelectric 
reservoir levels caused by scant rainfall.  Short energy supplies 
caused electricity prices on the spot market to more than quadruple 
in 2007, and are cramping Chile's economic growth potential. 
 
Source - Environment News Network 
 
¶30. Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia Agree To Build Five Joint Hydro Power 
Plants 
 
FEB. 26, 2008 - Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobco 
announced that Brazil will build three binational hydroelectric 
power plants with Argentina and another two with Bolivia, totaling 
10,000 megawatts and R$ 30 billion (USD 17 billion).  According to 
press reports, after the presidents of the three countries met in 
Buenos Aires on February 23, it was agreed that Mercosur ministers 
will meet to discuss the bloc's energy policy in 10 days.  Asked 
about Argentina's request to receive part of the gas Brazil receives 
from Bolivia, Lobco said that there will be no change to existing 
contracts, although Brazil could help its neighbor with surplus 
electricity. Reports also highlight that President Evo Morales said 
that Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina have committed to help each other 
in case of energy crises. The nuclear cooperation with Argentina 
includes the creation of a binational state company to develop a 
joint nuclear reactor for electricity generation. 
 
Source - Public Affairs US Embassy Brasilia 
 
HENSHAW