Subscribe to My Feed




Tell a Friend




  • Polls

    How Is My Site? / ¿Cómo es mi sitio web?

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...
  • Recent Comments:

  • Challenges to Sustainable Agriculture in LAC

    Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

    I am in New York attending the Seventh Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-17). This Session is focused on the thematic cluster of agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa. As is the case with the opening day of most such international fora, today all too many opening speeches and […]

    Share

    Brazil Plans to Ban or Restrict 12 Pesticides

    Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

    Brazilian health officials are concerned.  In 2008 Brazil became the largest consumer of pesticides in the world, surpassing the US with a market of more than US$7 billion.  Yet many of the pesticides now manufactured in, or imported into, Brazil and widely used there have been banned or severely restricted for health and environmental reasons […]

    Share

    Supreme Court: Producers Decide Which Third-Party Organizations Will Handle Their Waste Obligations

    Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

    Brazil’s Superior Court just issued an important ruling regarding producer responsibility.  The case involved a challenge to the exclusive right of a third party organization to control the implementation of a producer responsibility waste recovery obligation imposed under Brazilian environmental legislation. The firm Santos e Paccini Ltda. – Fineplast contested a denial of an environmental […]

    Share

    Economic Growth Model is Rapidly Transforming/Degrading the Amazon

    Thursday, February 19th, 2009

    From the UN Environment Programme (UNEP): A Strong Impact is Made on the Amazonia by its Economic Growth Model However, responses by the governments of Amazonian countries indicate that efforts are under way on concrete action to deal with their environmental challenges. The population is increasing, reaching a level of 33.5 million inhabitants in 2007. […]

    Share

    Comisión argentina comienza trabaajo sobre los agroquímicos

    Thursday, February 5th, 2009

    Desde la Secretaria de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable (SAyDS): Comenzó a funcionar comisión para prevenir intoxicación por agroquímicos Presidida por la Ministra de Salud de la Nación, Graciela Ocaña, y con la presencia del Secretario de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable, Homero Bibiloni, sesionó hoy por primera vez la Comisión Nacional de Investigación para la prevención, […]

    Share

    Colombia Finally Joins the POPs Convention / Por fin Colombia es Estado Parte del Convenio sobre los COPs

    Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

    On 20 January Colombia finally joined the ranks of Contracting Parties (CPs) to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).  The Stockholm Convention commits CPs to eliminate, severely restrict and/or minimize the production, use and trade of 12 POPs — nine pesticides (including DDT), three byproducts of industrial processes and of combustion (dioxins, furans […]

    Share

    Using Community Mapping to Combat Deforestation / Utilizando mapeamento participativo para combatir o desmatamento

    Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

    Temas Observation: I have long stressed the importance of good data-gathering and diagnosis as the basis for sound action, and advocated getting individuals, civic groups and communities involved in such work.  Hence I applaud this effort led by Greenpeace.  As their press releases point out, combating deforestation in the Amazon is difficult in part because […]

    Share

    WHO & FAO Call for Countries to Improve Food Safety Vigilance / OMS y FAO: paises tienen que mejorar su vigilancia de la seguridad de los alimentos

    Friday, July 20th, 2007

    I already had on my “to do” list for this blog a look at food safety in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC); I think with this public call from WHO and FAO, perhaps I should move it up on the schedule and list of priorities. So look for posts coming soon on the roles […]

    Share

    Sustainable Agriculture as a Key to Protecting the Mesoamerican Reef

    Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

    Synopsis in English: WWF has concluded an agreement with major Honduran producers of palm oil — specifically Palmas de San Alejo and AGROTOR, subsidiaries of the JAREMAR Group — to adopt specified good agricultural management practices in order to reduce the impact their production has on the nearby huge Mesoamerican Reef (MAR). The agreement has […]

    Share

    Making Post-Consumer Recovery of Pesticide Packaging Work

    Monday, May 28th, 2007

    The recent decision by Colombia to impose extended producer responsibility (EPR) for post-consumer pesticide packaging reminded me of a draft sitting in the infamous backlog queue since January. It looks at the Brazilian system for dealing with such packaging, which seems to be operating very well, in spite of predictions to the contrary by skeptics […]

    Share