SANTIAGO - Chilean minister of planning, Andrés Palma, said on May 11 that the Endesa electric company must pay damages to the indigenous Pehuenche community for flooding their cemetery when the reservoir of the Ralco dam was filled without authorization.

The filling of the reservoir on the Upper Bío-Bío River on Apr. 21 destroyed an historic monument, where in the mid-20th century 56 Indians were buried, identified by name.

According to the plans for mitigating environmental and property damage, the cemetery, known as Quepuca Ralco, was to be relocated before filling the reservoir. According to Endesa, the task was to be carried out by the National Commission for Indigenous Development and the National Monuments Council.

Construction of the hydroelectric dam has been fought from the beginning, in 1994, by environmental and Pehuenche groups, which in late 2003 finalized agreements with the company, which is property of Endesa-Spain, for the relocation of the families living in the area set aside for the reservoir.

RIO DE JANEIRO - Mauá da Serra, a municipality in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, last week celebrated 30 years of "direct planting", a successful experiment that began in 1971.

This technique, which avoids overturning the soil and leaves the dried remnants of stalks from the previous harvest intact, has been a decisive factor in making Brazil a major agricultural trade power.

Today, of the 42 million hectares that produce grains, half are cultivated using the direct planting system, which in addition to improving yields protects the environment by reducing erosion, the use of agro-toxins and the emission of greenhouse gases, agronomist Bady Cury, of the Brazilian Federation of Direct Planting, told Tierramérica.

The technique was developed in the United States, and gained popularity and efficiency in Brazil, which has turned into its international dissemination center.

GUANTANAMO, Cuba - A community project under way in this eastern province of Cuba promotes the production of homemade soap using the physic or Barbados nut (Jatropha curcas), the cultivation of which also improves soils damaged by drought or salinity.

Two-and-a-half hectares in San Antonio del Sur, in the semi-arid region of Guantánamo, were reforested with this plan, which provides the organic material for the soap, said experts involved in the program.

This versatile plant can produce 1,590 liters of biodiesel per hectare. This fuel does not pollute the environment and its byproduct generically known as glycerol is widely used in Cuban industry, medicine and cosmetics.

CARACAS - A fine layer of water lentils (Lemnaceae family) has extended during the past few weeks over a quarter of Lake Maracaibo, in western Venezuela, underscoring the high level of water pollution that affects fish and lake navigation.

Also known as duckweed, "it is a freshwater weed, and it looks like green lentils, but it accumulates forming a layer that indicates high levels of contamination," biologist Gonzalo Godoy, of the environmental group Procuencas, told Tierramérica.

Lake Maracaibo, 13,280 square km and holding 245 billion cubic meters of water, is strategic for oil exploitation, but suffers from pollution, according to many studies.

The situation is affecting fishing activity, during one of the most crucial times of the year for shrimp gathering. Fish species are also affected because the duckweed exhausts their oxygen supply and cuts off light to the lake's depths.

GUATEMALA CITY - An enormous garbage dump less than two km from the Guatemalan capital's historic center could reach its breaking point within three years and cause serious damage, warns Mario Dary, minister of environment and natural resources.

"Given the quantity of waste received daily and the lack of treatment," the dump can only operate until 2007 at the latest, the minister told Tierramérica.

The dump takes in 500 tons of rubbish from the capital and nearby areas each day, covered by a thin layer of soil. The site began operating in the 1960s, and its future has been up for debate since the 1980s.

"We have to begin to tackle the problem and raise awareness about the need to charge residents for waste treatment," said Dary.

A study by the Municipality of Guatemala City indicates that the dump could operate for another 15 years if at least 2.5 million dollars are invested in rehabilitating it.