RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian industry this year must recycle a quantity of tires equivalent to 25 percent of the 45 million produced in this country, according to a resolution of the National Environmental Council (CONAMA), a rule that took effect January 1.

The requirement will be doubled in the coming years and, as of 2004, tire manufacturing will be at one-to-one parity with recycling.

Estimates are that Brazil is home to more than 100 million used tires. They constitute a health hazard because the water that collects within the tires serves as one of the top breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that transmit diseases like dengue.

CARACAS - The 40 agents of the national corps of "animal rangers" in Venezuela are not enough to protect the nation's endangered species, warns the director of the Environment Ministry's Fauna Division, Mirna Quero.

The post of "environmental guardian" was created in 1988 and was considered a pioneering effort in Latin America. However, the number of agents has always failed to cover the need, mostly due to the program's limited budget.

The rangers operate in four provinces, but are not present in the Amazonas, Bolivar and Delta Amacuro provinces, which are home to the country's most extensive nature reserves.

SANTIAGO - The Superintendent of Electricity and Fuels in Chile has begun a detailed audit of the country's gas stations in an effort to ensure that quality is in keeping with the standards set by anti-pollution laws.

Superintendent Sergio Espego reported Jan 2 that, as a result of the inspections, 20 gas stations have been closed in Chile.

The most frequent legal infraction was the mixing of gasoline with kerosene, which reduces the purity of the fuel and hurts engines, leading to higher emissions of toxic gases.

Under the Anti-Pollution Plan of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, launched in the early 1990s, the government is promoting the use of unleaded gas in this South American capital.

HAVANA - Cuban experts are awaiting help from foreign institutions to save more than a dozen species that were thrashed by Hurricane Michelle last Nov 4 at the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden, 336 km from Havana.

Winds reaching 200 km per hour hit Cuba two months ago and destroyed plant specimens like the Sandalo arbum, natural camphor and nutmeg (Eugenia cariofilata), difficult to reproduce and valuable for their aromatic properties and essences.

The specialists at the Botanical Garden, which was founded in 1901, contacted their colleagues in Germany, Belgium, Chile and Italy in search of seeds or plants to replace the ones that Cuba lost.