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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 
 
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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) 
 
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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