Tierramérica

Issue of May, 22, 2004



	Current Edition

	Report

	Accents

	Analysis

	Dialogues

	Notable Writings

	Eco-Briefs

	Gallery

	Video



	Contacts

	Permisos de uso

Pine is one of the preferred species for fast-growing tree crops.
Credit: Claudio Contreras.

Report
Can Planting Trees Be Harmful?
By Diana Cariboni
Environmentalists warn that monoculture of tree plantations threatens the Uruguayan environment. But there are no studies available on the true impacts of commercial forestry, which now covers more than 600,000 hectares, or four percent of productive land in this South American country.

Dialogues
A Victory for Free Speech'
By Haider Rizvi
Greenpeace celebrated a ruling by U.S. courts to absolve the international environmental watchdog of charges involving its protest activities. Nancy Hwa, spokeswoman for the group, dialogued with Tierramérica about the case.

Satellites help monitor the state of tropical forests.
Credit: Claudio Contreras

Accents
Oil Spills in the Middle of New York
By Katherine Stapp
For decades oil leaks have been contaminating a creek that crosses two of New York's famed boroughs. Activists are taking legal action against Exxon Mobil and other oil companies.

Credit: Fabricio Van den Broeck.

Notable Writings
Global Crusade Against Toxic Chemicals
By Klaus Toepfer
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which entered into force on May 17, will put the brakes on the most toxic substances around the globe. But the best efforts are yet to come, writes the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in an exclusive column for Tierramérica.

Accents
The Caribbean Under Satellite's Eye
By Jorge Alberto Grochembake
Central America has been monitoring its natural resources from outer space since the 1990s, through a project in conjunction with NASA. Now the aim is to incorporate 15 Caribbean countries into the initiative.

Eco-Briefs

GLOBAL: Getting Ready for Youth Summit
Some 600 girls and boys from 100 countries will take part in an international environmental conference in July in the United States, where they will discuss global problems, present proposals and demand answers from the adult world.

ARGENTINA: No Sign of Environmental Report
The Argentine Environment and Natural Resources Foundation asked the government for the official environmental report for 2003, which should have been published in November but has yet to appear.

COLOMBIA: Proposals for Garbage Crisis
The Regional Autonomous Corporation, regional environmental authority for the Colombian department Atlántico, proposed construction of three landfills to remedy the crisis arising from poor management of solid waste.

GUATEMALA: Military Guards Nature Park
Sixty soldiers from the Guatemalan army will back 50 agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) in fighting vandals and drug traffickers who threaten the Laguna del Tigre National Park, located in the northern department of El Petén.

PERU: A Call to Ban Asbestos Use
Three civil society groups asked the Peruvian Congress on May 17 to ban the use of asbestos in industrial processes after a press conference in which they presented four former employees of an auto parts factory who suffer asbestosis.

Lessons From a Unique Decade - José Graziano da Silva *
Rio+20 and Beyond: Together for a Sustainable Future - José Graziano da Silva *
Why Inclusive Green Growth Can Sustain Recent Gains in Latin America - Hasan Tuluy*
The Global Food Crisis and the Latin American Paradox - Pamela Cox