SANTIAGO - The Environmental Commission of the Metropolitan Region (COREMA) of Chile approved a project to reforest the Park of the Americas, an extensive plot of land on the southern banks of the Mapocho River in the capital, which has become the subject of some heated disputes.

The first phase of tree-planting, to be completed in December, will cover nine of the 30 hectares of the park, land set aside 40 years ago as an additional ''green lung'' for Santiago, one of Latin America's cities with worst air pollution.

The location of the park in the municipality of Vitacura, where property values tend to run high, led construction companies to pressure local authorities to designate part of the land to be sold as real estate.

The conflict between the municipality, builders and the residents defending the environmental project postponed the approval of the 800,000-dollar plan until this month.

SAN JOSE - Researchers at the non-governmental Tropical Science Center (CCT) are putting together a plan to assess the forests of Central America using satellite images.

Their goal is to create a map of the region's forest coverage in order to determine its true dimensions and make recommendations to the governments on preventive measures in the areas where the most deforestation is occurring, CCT representatives told Tierramérica.

The study, with a price tag of 400,000 dollars, is to be performed in 2001, according to CCT, a non-profit institute that conducts research on climate change, environmental economy and forest coverage.

In 1996, the Central American forests covered an estimated 18 million hectares.

CARACAS - The construction of a power-line system to carry electricity from a Venezuelan hydroelectric dam to northern Brazil was interrupted again this month by the mobilization of indigenous communities who oppose the project and by environmental groups that denounce it as ''eco-cide.''

Indigenous activists toppled seven transmission towers in southeastern Venezuela, while environmentalists demanded that the nation's attorney general halt the energy project.

The extended delay in construction put the Venezuelan government in a bind as it had soon expected to complete the project that was initially promised for 1998, but has been repeatedly delayed by the indigenous activists' opposition tactics.

Officials from Caracas assured Brazil last April that the problems were resolved by an agreement signed with the local indigenous groups. But protests were renewed in August against the energy project, which is considered key to the integration process involving the two countries.

More information:
www.tierramerica.org/energia/biobio.shtml

RIO DE JANEIRO - The creation of the National Water Agency (ANA) marks a revolution in water management in Brazil, but the Senate is delaying its required approval of the agency's designated directors, meaning this regulatory body will likely not be installed until the end of the year.

According to the law passed in July, water is a limited public good, and as such, the agricultural, industrial and sanitation companies that use and pollute it must pay.

The Hydrographic Watershed Committees, made up of representatives from the government and society, will set the prices and conditions for water use.

The companies are complaining, but ANA will ensure the distribution, regulation and quality of the water supply, according to Brazil's Ministry of Environment.


*Source: Inter Press Service.