BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's Ombudsman Eduardo Mondino has asked the Health Ministry to conduct a study to determine whether the contaminated Riachuelo, a river marking the capital's southern boundary, causes illness among the population living along its banks.

Mondino made the move in response to a complaint filed by a local resident whose three young children suffer medical problems related to the skin, lungs and eyes. Another demand, by the Neighbors Association of La Boca, the district alongside the river, is based on a broader study.

According to that investigation, five million people live along the Riachuelo, of whom 55 percent lack sewage services and 35 percent do not have household potable water services. At least 80 companies dump industrial waste, including heavy metals, into the river.

BOGOTA - Experts from numerous countries are to meet in the Colombian capital May 28-30 to assess experiences in wetlands recovery, particularly such areas that are degraded by human activities in urban areas.

In wetlands, water is the principal factor controlling the ecosystem and the plant and animal life related to it. These endangered ecosystems also serve to control flooding, the flow of water in aquifers, erosion, as well as retaining sediments and nutrients.

The first International Forum on Urban Wetlands has been organized by the non-governmental Conservation International and the Bogotá Aqueduct Enterprise.

LIMA - Under pressure from environmental groups, the Peruvian government decided to set conditions for the construction of a gas fractionation plant along the Ica coast, near the Paracas National Reserve, in the south.

Environmentalists presented 65 technical objections to the Pluspetrol firm's construction project, 16 of which were backed by the governmental National Institute of Natural Resources.

Pluspetrol, which holds the contract to market the gas to be extracted in Camisea, in the southeastern Peruvian jungles, must demonstrate that it possesses appropriate technology to minimize the environmental impact of the gas plant.

GUATEMALA CITY - The recently created Consultive Council on Environment in Guatemala will include the participation of 16 entities, governmental and non-governmental alike, with the aim of regulating environmental policies and natural resources, conservation and sustainable development strategies.

"The novelty of the Council is that five of its 16 members will be designated by associations of women, Indians, unions, universities and others, related to the environment," environment ministry spokesman Sergio del Aguila told Tierramérica.

"The Council emerged as a result of the need for a jointly-run entity, entrusted with defining policies, providing assessment, making proposals about the country's environmental problems, and serving as mediator in natural resources disputes, so that the Environment Ministry carries out the solutions," said Del Aguila.

Although the Consultive Council on Environment was created last year, it was not until this month that it was legally implemented, with the publication of the respective legislation.

MANAGUA - Hundreds of people from Nicaragua and Costa Rica will take part in the binational Festival for the 'lapa verde', the great green macaw, an event in the Nicaraguan town of El Castillo, Apr 25-27, aimed at raising awareness about this endangered bird species.

This cultural and environmental festival, organized by the Fundación del Río, is part of a series of actions of the Binational Commission of the Biological Corridor El Castillo-San Juan-La Selva.

The great green macaw is in danger of extinction due to loss of habitat caused by logging of the forests. Nicaragua has a larger population of these birds than Costa Rica because its Indio Maíz reserve continues to provide sufficient food and nesting sites.

However, the pressures of deforestation are growing all the time, particularly with the loss of almond trees, which provide 80 percent of the 'lapa verde' diet.