Eco-Briefs

	HONDURAS
	Work of Local Water Boards to be Recognized at Rio+20

TEGUCIGALPA, Apr 23 (Tierramérica).- The Association of Water Administration Boards of the South Sector of Pico Bonito Park, in Honduras, will be recognized at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) for conserving water resources and the habitat of a species of hummingbird endemic to this Central American nation.

This initiative, based in the El Merendón mountain range overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, was selected from among 800 projects around the world, Hugo Galeano of the UNDP Small Grants Program told Tierramérica. The program certified the work of the Association of Water Administration Boards prior to the competition.

The Association has been in operation for five years and has allowed for the preservation of 40,000 hectares of forest in areas inhabited by the Honduran Emerald (Amazilia luciae), a species of hummingbird found only in Honduras that is classified as critically endangered.

Pico Bonito Mountain is located in the northern Honduran departments of Atlántida and Yoro and forms part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.

	ARGENTINA
	Environmentalists Call for Urgent Adoption of E-Waste Law

BUENOS AIRES, Apr 23 (Tierramérica).- The environmental organization Greenpeace Argentina is calling for the swift approval of a proposed law on the collection and management of electronic waste, which was tabled in the country’s legislature four years ago.

“The bill has already been passed in the Senate, and if it isn’t addressed in the Chamber of Deputies, it will fall,” Greenpeace Argentina political director Eugenia Testa told Tierramérica.

In 2011, 10 million mobile phones were disposed of in Argentina, representing the waste of 228 kilos of gold, 1,750 kilos of silver and 81,000 kilos of copper, according to Greenpeace. The estimated combined value of these metals is close to 15 million dollars.

In view of these wasted resources and the contamination caused by various components of disposed electronic equipment, environmental activists are pushing for legislation for the recycling of recoverable metal components and the proper treatment and disposal of the remaining and often toxic waste materials.

	BRAZIL
	Deforestation Endangers Northeastern Macaw

RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 23 (Tierramérica).- Deforestation of the caatinga, a semi-arid biome in northeastern Brazil, could place the blue-winged macaw (Ara maracana) in danger of extinction, according to a new study from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte.

This colorful tropical bird, classified as vulnerable by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Natural Resources, is also a target of illegal trafficking, especially of young specimens.

The researchers monitored flocks of blue-winged macaws between 2009 and 2011, and found that while these flocks initially comprised 30 birds each, they are now made up of barely 10.

“These birds reproduce in the trunks of mulungús, typical trees of the caatinga ecosystem which are being cleared to create pastureland,” biologist Mauro Pichorim, who headed up the study, told Tierramérica.

“Official figures reveal the loss of almost 46 percent of the original vegetation of the caatinga. The data gathered will help in designing measures for the protection of this species,” he added.

*Source: Inter Press Service.