BOGOTA - Colombia invested just 0.46 percent of its 1999 gross domestic product (GDP) in conserving its natural resources, a sum the Comptroller General's Office considers low when compared with the country's needs.

Colombia is ''far from achieving an acceptable level of sustainable development '' due to its low public expenditures and the lack of environmental policy coordination, says the Comptroller.

Some 53 million of Colombia's 114 million hectares are covered with natural forests and 21.6 million with other types of vegetation.

But the state-run National University indicates that 10 percent of the area suffers erosion problems as a result of deforestation, and that air quality in urban zones has sharply deteriorated in the last two decades.

MEXCIO CITY - The jaguar, a feline that was god and friend to the pre-Hispanic people of Mexico, has reappeared in the northern part of the country, where it had been believed extinct.

Pawprints of medium-sized jaguars were discovered last month in desert areas of Mexico's Sonora state and in bordering areas of the United States, reported Environment Ministry officials.

Though only a few prints were sighted in Mexico, ecology groups and authorities are attempting to track the animals and assess their health status.

Mexico is home to 45 rare animal species, 148 threatened species, 146 that are in danger of extinction, and 82 under special protection, according to official data. The jaguar is included in the last two categories.

SANTIAGO - An ''eco-real estate'' project underway in Chile's extreme south to sell plots of land near the region's natural attractions is turning out to be a bad deal.

In a year and a half, just 14 percent of the 165 sites - priced at 14,000 to 56,000 dollars - have been sold, reports Las Delicias Realty, owner of the Puerto Austral Patagonia project.

The ''eco-condominium'' is located in Palena province, 1,300 km south of Santiago, in an area that holds native forests, volcanoes, hot springs and picturesque bays and canals.

In addition to the natural beauty, the investors are attempting to attract buyers with an infrastructure for sailing, sports fishing and mountaineering. The apparent failure of the project is welcome by environmental groups.

BUENOS AIRES - Three Argentine ecosystems are on the verge of disappearing, and with them the last of some species, warns the 'Fundación Vida Silvestre' (wildlife foundation).

One is the Pampa Pastureland, in the middle of the country, the richest area for grazing cattle and for the diversity of natural species living there.

Biologist Claudio Bertonatti, who participated in the wildlife study, explained that descriptions made by naturalists like Charles Darwin would now be reduced to science fiction because of the number of original species that have been lost.

El Espinal, a ring of forests around the Pampa, is in full decline: the 'caldén' tree has disappeared and there are few examples left of other native trees, such as the 'algarrobo' (carob) and the 'ñandubay.'

Another threatened ecosystem is the Chaco, which covers the northeast and part of the central area of the country. It is the habitat of the marsh crow, the 'pichiciego' and the 'margay' cat. Human impact on the Chaco wetlands causes increasingly frequent flooding.

QUITO - The Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park, situated in the Ecuadorian Amazon and home to animals that are extinct in other areas - such as the jaguar, tapir and anteater -, has been added to the United Nations list of biosphere reserves.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the 930,000 hectares of the Sumaco, which has long attracted the attention of ecologists, a biosphere reserve in November.

Ecuador's Environment Ministry had made the proposal for the reserve with the support of the German government's Technical Cooperation division, GTZ.

The new reserve unites seven ecology zones, in which 654 bird, 470 fish and 6,000 vascular plant species have been identified.

Some 80,000 people live in the area surrounding the National Park, 70 percent of whom are of Quichua indigenous origin.

''The idea behind the biosphere reserve is to balance the criteria of nature conservation with the sustainable human development of the towns,'' explained engineer Hans Knoblauch, the Sumaco project's principal adviser.

''It is based on the premise that no conservation activity can be successful while the human population is struggling with poverty,'' stated Knoblauch.

* Source: Inter Press Service