LIMA - The Peruvian National Environment Commission is putting together a project to reduce the emission of polluting gases from automobiles and cut down on fuel lost to poorly operating motors.

In the first phase, slated to begin in November, ''we will work with transportation companies and then launch a massive campaign targeting car drivers,'' reported Luciano del Castillo, who is in charge of the initiative.

''Studies show that urban transport vehicles waste as much as 15 percent of their fuel, lost through the exhaust pipe. The owners of those vehicles lose money and, at the same time, they are polluting,'' added Del Castillo.

The plan will operate for 20 months under the management of German expert Wolfgang Wengel and has the backing from aid organizations in Germany, Switzerland and the United States.

RIO DE JANEIRO - The environmental movement is mobilizing in Brazil against the government's attempt to allow genetically modified crops through a ''provisional measure'' included in a decree-law that is pending ratification in parliament.

The National Technical Commission on Biosecurity, a division of the Ministry of Science and Technology that has decision-making power over the matter, has already come out in favor of cultivating genetically modified seeds, which until how has been prevented by court rulings.

The initiative, coming from the Executive branch, ignores legal ordinances that require prior evaluation of such crops' environmental impact, argues the non-governmental Socio-Environmental Institute.

SAN JOSE - Scientists from around the world are taking inventory of the Costa Rican rain forests' arthropods, which represent 80 percent of the known animal species in the area.

Arthropods include segmented invertebrates, such as crabs and shrimp, as well as spiders, millipedes and other insects. The Organization for Tropical Studies (OET), which involves 58 universities and institutions from the United States, Latin America and Australia, is coordinating the study.

After nine years of work, the researchers in the project known as Jungle Arthropods have identified 432 species of acarids, 99 jumping spiders, 146 types of moths and some 370 types of beetles.

CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has pitted himself against environmental groups by defending a power-line project extending to Brazil, which ecologists and the indigenous Pemón community have denounced.

''Because of this (purist) environmentalism we are going to leave villages incommunicado?'' wondered Chávez, who has said the indigenous groups opposed to the 1,500-km electrical project are being manipulated ''by internal and external groups'' that are trying to jeopardize the close relations and integration between Venezuela and Brazil.

Chávez made his accusation Oct 12, the anniversary of the Spanish arrival in the Americas, a date many native communities throughout the continent consider a day of mourning.

The power-lines to transmit electricity from Venezuela to Brazil are a symbol of bilateral integration. The completion of the project was originally slated for December 1998, but has been delayed by indigenous protests.


* Source: Inter Press Service