GUATEMALA CITY - The Guatemalan government and leaders of the peasant group Plataforma Agraria (PA) will take part in dialogue to seek solutions to rural land conflicts and discuss policies for developing the countryside.

"Two commissions will be set up to study and develop solutions to the agrarian problem, which has been historic and a leading cause of the poverty" that affects 80 percent of the country's 11.2 million inhabitants, PA spokeswoman Ursula Roldán told Tierramérica.

Four representatives of the Oscar Berger administration and four from the PA will comprise the first commission, to discuss the legal matters related to labor and land conflicts, including land takeovers.

The second commission, with the same make up, "will have a longer-term task, because they will have to discuss an integral policy for rural development" in a country where 85 percent of farmable land is in the hands of one percent of the population, said Roldán.

TEGUCIGALPA - U.S. and Honduran scientists will work together over the next three years to study and protect migratory birds, including the tiny golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia), whose habitat is 1,800 meters above sea level in encino pine trees.

Experts from Tegucigalpa and from the Audubon Zoo, in the southern U.S. city of New Orleans, will track the migratory behavior of birds that travel between the southeast United States and the Honduran reserves of La Tigra National Park, Corralitos, El Picacho and Amarateca Valley.

Also taking part is a group from the Autonomous National University of Honduras, Jonathan Laínez, of the capital's environmental management division, told Tierramérica.

The aim is to establish the timing and routes of migration, and the status of the forests they use for nesting in order to define measures to prevent the extinction of these bird species.

SAN JOSE - Costa Rican scientists and environmentalists say the country's mangroves, on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, are on the verge of collapse despite the numerous regulations in place to protect them.

The continued harvesting of mollusks, fish and crustaceans, the logging of trees and construction of canals and ponds have taken a heavy toll on the mangroves, say experts from the National University.

The National University, Environment Ministry, National System for Conservation, and National Wetlands Program presented the government with an "integral proposal for optimal management of those areas, considering it is necessary to interrelate administrative and juridical aspects" with other elements of vital importance for protecting this unique ecosystem.

University expert Juan Bravo said the mangroves are important for fishing as sources of the white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), anchovetas (Engraulis ringens) and red porgy (Sparus pagrus), among others.

RIO DE JANEIRO - An International People's Tribunal on Transgenics held sessions in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre on Mar. 11, finding genetically modified soy "guilty".

Although the trial was informal, it was presided by a real judge, José Felipe Ledur of Brazil.

The accused -- the U.S. biotech giant Monsanto, which holds the patent to the genetically engineered RoundUp Ready (RR) soy, and the Federation of Agriculture of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul -- were found ''guilty of illegally disseminating transgenic seeds.''

They ''endangered the environment, biodiversity, human health, the country's agricultural genetic wealth, and the Brazilian economy,'' according to the final ruling.

The sentence -- which is non-binding -- also states that not enough research has been carried out yet to ensure that transgenic crops and food pose no environmental or health risks.

Genetically modified soy now accounts for 80 percent of all soy planted in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, and has spread to other parts of the country, reflecting the failure of authorities to enforce the existing ban.

CARACAS - Canada will contribute a half-million dollars to build wastewater systems in poor districts of the Venezuelan capital, says the Canadian ambassador Allan Culham.

The Venezuelan government will put up 100,000 dollars for the initiative.

"In 700 neighborhoods around Caracas, wastewater drains an average of three meters from houses. To channel them, it is essential to build collectors," said Jacqueline Farías, president of the public enterprise Hidrocapital.

The highly contaminated Guiarie River, which runs 72 km west to east across the southern part of the city, currently receives most of the sewage. The authorities' ultimate aim is to clean up the river, said Farías.

SANTIAGO - The executive director of the Chilean Forestry Research Institute, Roberto Ipinza, proposed that a portion of the income tax revenues from mining operations should be earmarked for forest development.

Debate began in 2003 about charging royalties to the transnational companies that produce two-thirds of the copper exports from Chile, the world's leading producer of the red metal.

"Mexico and Chile are the only traditional mining countries that still don't impose a royalty," said Ipinza, addressing the Global Biotechnology Forum this month.