LIMA – The first regional weather forecasting system in Peru will begin operating in July, providing assistance to the Agriculture Ministry, the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service and the International Potato Center (CIP).

Meteorologist Guillermo Baigorria of the CIP says the pilot model of the climate map will be tested in Cajamarca in the northern mountains and will provide weather information to farmers.

This will be a state-of-the-art program that will receive data from similar sites worldwide.

MONTEVIDEO – Buses in the Uruguayan capital are providing a moving theatre for an environmental message, spreading the word about the value of potable water, biodiversity, and promoting active participation in environmental affairs.

“Passenger Theatre” is an initiative launched in 1999 by the local Polizonteatro theatrical group. It is financed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the UN Development Program, the Organization of American States and the Interamerican Development Bank.

The environmental theme is new to the program. In previous years, Polizonteatro has focused on cultural questions and specific issues of interest to local communities.

BUENOS AIRES – An increase in spills of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), a toxic liquid used to cool large transformers, has put the Argentine population on full alert.

PCB contaminates the earth and is transported by wind and rain. In Argentina it has been found in waterways, river fish and marine mammals. There is a law mandating a phase-out of PCB use by 2010, but wherever large transformers still using the liquid are found, neighborhoods have remained vigilant because of the correlation between these spills and cases of cancer and respiratory, immunological and dermatological infections.

The authorities are investigating the relationship between this pollutant and deaths in two provinces.

TEGUCIGALPA – At least 12 endangered species of snakes have been bred at a center to rescue wildlife in peril operating here in the Honduran capital.

In its three years in operation, the Jorge Armando Ferrari Rescue Center for Reptiles and Amphibians of Honduras – formed by a group of young volunteers – has sheltered many species, among them the pink boa, native to Honduras and also found in the Caribbean Islands of Cayos Cochinos.

Species like the snapping turtle that can live as long as 150 years are returned to their habitat after they are bred, said Flavio Flores, the biologist in charge of the center.

“We have a long way to go but we have begun saving species threatened by smuggling and by ignorance, species that are killed by people who do not know whether or not they are harmless,” he added.

MANAGUA – Lake Cocibolca, also called Lake Nicaragua, the main source of potable water in the country, is being contaminated by chemicals and organic material coming from the southwestern city of Granada, said Salvador Montenegro, director of the Center for the Study of Aquatic Resources (CIRA).

The principal waterways of this tourist city of 120,000 discharge sewage as well as solid and industrial waste from oil and soap factories, food processing plants and sawmills into the lake, he said.

Cocibolca is the largest lake in the country. Its hydrological basin, some 42,000 sq. km, covers a third of Nicaragua’s surface area.

Now, said Montenegro, it is suffering the ravages of deforestation, sedimentation and contamination by herbicides.

GUATEMALA CITY – Agronomy students here are looking to cocoa to provide a substitute for coffee now that that industry is in a downturn. The students from San Carlos University are promoting cocoa cultivation on 10,000 hectares, 2,000 of which used to be in coffee.

The program is directed at small and medium farmers in the western Quetzaltenango province, Retalhuleu and Suchitepéquez in the south, Alta Verapaz to the north and Izabal in the northeast.

“We are interested in helping the farmers move to alternative crops in a manner that will alleviate poverty and hunger,” said the university’s Fernando Ortiz.

The agronomy students in charge of the project are on internship and the program consists of giving technical advice in the production and commercialization of cocoa, as well as in the search for financing.