Eco-Briefs

	BRAZIL
	Biodegradable Plastic from Sugarcane

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 11 (Tierramérica).- Brazil will produce 200,000 tons a year of biodegradable plastic made from sugarcane. This raw material could be used to make fuel tanks for vehicles and containers for yogurt, milk, detergents and other products.

The petrochemical company Braskem announced a project in early May for a 235-million-dollar factory to be built in southern Brazil and will require the initial input of 400 million liters of sugarcane alcohol.

This alternative plastic decomposes one year after being discarded, while the common sort of plastic, made from petroleum, takes 200 years to decompose.

The plant-based plastic is not completely "green" because it requires other inputs in its production that can contaminate, such as dyes, according to Felipe Amaral, coordinator of the Gaúcho Environmental Defense Movement. Also, "its degradation will release chemical substances," he told Tierramérica.

	LATIN AMERICA
	Unionists Demand Eco-Jobs

BUENOS AIRES, May 11 (Tierramérica).- Labor unionists in Latin America and the Caribbean are calling for greater participation in sustainable development through the promotion of jobs in environmentally friendly technologies.

Convened by the Confederación Sindical de las Americas and the United Nations Environment Program, some 70 union leaders met with government officials at the 2nd Regional Conference on Work and the Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean, here in Buenos Aires.

The unions stated their "willingness to participate in activities to create appropriate process for environmentally friendly production," Guillermo Varela, general coordinator of Argentina's Sustainable Development and Labor Program, told Tierramérica.

They also maintained that if climate-changing gas emissions are to be reduced, it is essential to ensure that it isn't the workers who pay the price of that transformation, he added.

	MEXICO
	Nudist Resort Destroys Mangrove

MEXICO CITY, May 11 (Tierramérica).- Residents of Marquelia, a coastal town of some 15,000 people in the southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero, have complained that municipal authorities allowed the destruction of mangrove forests in an area where a nudist resort is to be built.

"Workers cut down the mangroves and other trees to build a road, and they are continuing with this project. We are poor, but we have enough, and we don't want nudists," Marquelia resident Sofía Martínez told Tierramérica.

The municipality will spend 370,000 dollars on a private nudist tourism complex, with hotels and restaurants, along 11 kilometers of beach. The company that will own the complex is not yet known.

The Federal Environmental Prosecutor inspected the area in March and April, and warned that it could shut down the project because it does have permits or environmental impact studies.

	CENTRAL AMERICA
	A Digital System to Avoid Natural Disasters

TEGUCIGALPA, May 11 (Tierramérica).- The countries of Central America will set up a digital platform to detect areas of risk of natural disasters, and to share experiences in prevention and mitigation, reported the Honduran Permanent Commission for Contingencies, Copeco.

The platform will include a system to identify risk by using modeling and visualization tools in each country in order to permit early warning alerts and mechanisms of collaboration, Copeco coordinator Marcos Burgos told Tierramérica.

"It will support local communities and governments, who will be provided with a user-friendly computer program," he said, adding that it will be installed by the end of the year.

As part of this regional effort, in April, Honduras presented its first "risk map", identifying 28 vulnerable areas in its territory.

*Source: Inter Press Service.