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Meso-America
The Meso-American Biological
Corridor that extends across the countries of Central
America and southern Mexico is an important project
for the future of the planet. It seeks to halt the
environmental degradation of a region that is home
to eight percent of all known species.
Several international organizations
are working with the governments of the zone in the
Meso-American
Biological Corridor crusade encompassing the countries
under the slogan "naturally united" in the search
for ways to protect biodiversity and foment sustainable
development.
The Meso-American
region , approximately 800,000 square km, covers
the seven Central American nations (Belize, Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua
and Panama) and the five states of southeast Mexico
(Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco y Yucatan).
A glance at the information about
the project available on the Internet reveals the
interest of international bodies like the World
Bank , the United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP) and the US aerospace agency NASA.
The strategy behind the creation
of the Corridor across the various countries arose
from evidence of ecological destruction of habitat
due to the use of areas for human activities, like
farming, raising livestock and tourism, over-exploitation
of resources and the fragmentation of natural areas.
According to some estimates published
on the websites related to the project, the rate of
deforestation is so high that if immediate action
is not taken to halt the destruction, the forests
and jungles could disappear by the year 2015.
The specific goals of the project
are varied. In seeking better conservation methods,
efforts are under way to raise the population's awareness
about the problem, and to collect geographical information,
monitor changes, standardize government policies and
promote sustainable development, among many other
endeavors.
Meso-American
Biological Corridor: Naturally United
World
Bank: Central American Environmental Projects
World
Resources Institute: Defining Common Ground
NASA/CCAD:
Meso-America
The
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor
Stars of the Sea
Starfish are fantastical creatures:
they look like inhabitants of the heavens and the
scientific name that identifies them, "asteroidea",
only furthers that image. The shapes and colors of
these mysterious beings capture the imagination.
The name asteroidea
encompasses some 1,500 species grouped in several
families. They are part of the echinoderms,
which also include other mysterious ocean residents,
such as the sea cucumbers, which are close relatives
of the sea stars.
One Internet site dedicated to
starfish states that they have inhabited the Earth
for some 500 million years, a history that is corroborated
by the great number of star
fossils that have been found.
A large portion of the asteroidea
species have five tentacles extending out from a center,
creating their lovely star shape. However, some species
have many more arms, even dozens of them, such as
the crown-of-thorns,
which some studies indicate can affect coral reefs.
The nucleus or central disk of
the sea star is where the mouth is located. They are
an animal species with a primary nervous system, meaning
they do not have a brain. In order to process what
is occurring around them, stars have sensors that
can detect light and touch.
One of the most amazing characteristics
of the sea stars is their regenerative capacity, which
enters into action when they lose one of their arms.
And there are some species that can even regenerate
from a single tentacle.
On the Internet, sea stars have
generated a great quantity of information. You can
study their characteristics
on the web, contemplate their different shapes,
or even find answers to the most basic question: just
what IS a sea star?
Starfish
Science
Sea
Stars, gallery and descriptions
Starfish,
Asteroidea
Crown-of-Thorns:
Questions and Answers
Echinodermata
Star
Fossils
Asteroidea
Family
REEF:
Echinoderms
World Food Summit
The World
Food Summit is under way this week (May 10-13)
in the Italian capital with the aim of reinforcing
they key commitment made by the world's governments:
by the year 2015, the number of people suffering hunger
will be reduced by half.
This global summit, which was
originally scheduled for November 2001, bears the
subtitle "five years after", in reference
to the promises made in 1996, when 185 countries signed
the Rome
Declaration and a Plan of Action.
At that first
World Food Summit, it was proposed that the global
community must act to alleviate the hunger experienced
by more than 815 million people, and that by 2015
the number of people in that situation would be reduced
to no more than 400 million.
Five years later there is great
concern that the goal will not be met. The number
of hungry people is falling only very slowly. This
year's Summit does not seek to reformulate the objectives
that were established, but rather to produce tools
to be able to achieve the goal. Of course, this requires
the political will of all countries around the world.
The Summit is organized by the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
based in Rome, and which recently presented the report
titled "World
Anti-Hunger Program", in which it states
that investments of 24 billion dollars annually will
be necessary to reduce the number of hungry people
by half in time for the 2015 deadline.
At a preparatory meeting for
the World Food Summit of the countries of Latin
America and the Caribbean, the region's representatives
endorsed the idea of creating an international coalition
to combat hunger.
World
Food Summit: Five Years Later
UN Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
FAO:
Anti-Hunger Program
Goals
of the World Food Summit
1996
World Food Summit
Rome
Declaration on World Food Security
FAO
Latin American and Caribbean Conference for World
Food Summit
World
Food Program
International
Fund for Agricultural Development
FAO:
The State of Food Insecurity in the World
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