NAIROBI - Children from around the world, ages six to 15, are invited to take part in the International Children’s Painting Competition on environmental themes with the slogan: "Save the Earth! Preserve the beautiful oceans, skies, forests for the future.’’

Organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Japan's Foundation for Global Peace and Environment, the event offers 300 prizes for the best works, which will be reproduced in calendars, posters and other publications for global distribution.

Those who are interested can send in their artwork beginning Nov 1, with the deadline being Jan 11, 2002. More information and entry rules can be found at: www.unep.org/children_youth/Painting/Site/index.htm.

BUENOS AIRES - A zoo in the southern Argentine province of Chubut has decided to return 62 of its exotic animals to their natural habitats and to release the animals native to the local environment, turning the site into a recreational park.

Tigers, miniature goats, lions and wolves will soon be on their way to their native lands, with the help of transport companies hired by the authorities. The logo of this initiative shows a lion behind bars and reads, "He is innocent, but he's been imprisoned."

The Chubut Social Assistance Institute determined that to foment eco-tourism in this Patagonian province it will be essential to return the local native animals to their natural environment before the next Southern Hemisphere winter.

MONTEVIDEO - A Dutch architect is preparing a report for 2004 about the state of the World Heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean at the request of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The task of Herman van Hoof is to assess the state of the 100 sites, works and cities in the region that are included among the 630 registered on the UNESCO cultural and natural heritage list.

The expert, living in the Uruguayan capital, said the aim is to identify shared problems in order to better focus the programs aimed at preserving and protecting the region’s cultural and natural heritage.

HAVANA - Specialists in flora and fauna have been able to create conditions in Cuba for the preservation of a reptile species that exists only in one area of the island, in the province of Santa Clara, 300 km from Havana.

The animal in question in the miniature 'chipojo' (Anolis pigmaequestris), a lizard that is listed by international environmental organizations as being at risk of extinction.

Official sources reported 150 chipojos found in Cayo Francés, on the southeast coast. These fast-moving lizards are a brilliant green, three to four inches long, and extremely sensitive to changes in their environment.