BOGOTA - Colombian ecologists are fighting the proposed deep-water port in the western Málaga Bay and the Gorgona and Tribugá islands, where in the next few weeks some 800 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) will begin to gather as part of their annual migration pattern.

Málaga Bay, considered a global nature reserve, is one of the 35 most important ecosystems in the world, according to Gabriel Zamora, director of the local environmental authority of Valle del Cauca.

Biologist Javier Espinosa told Tierramérica that with the proposed port the ships would use the same ocean route as the whales, which travel 8,000 km from southern waters to mate. The giant sea mammals would be scared off or harmed by excessive noise and by the pollution associated with shipping.

RIO DE JANEIRO - Urban pollution contributes to the gender imbalance of the population, to the detriment of males, as do violence and the longevity of females.

According to a study by the University of Sao Paulo's medical school, in the 2001-2003 period, male births were 51.7 percent in the least contaminated area of this Brazilian city, and 50.7 percent in the most contaminated area.

Normally, more boys are born than girls, but that difference was reduced in this case, biologist Ana Julia Coimbra explained to Tierramérica. She has corroborated the trend in a laboratory study of mice. Half were kept in a chamber with polluted air, and there were 24 percent fewer male mice born than in the other half, which benefited from filtered air.

The study of Sao Paulo's human population will be more precise by encompassing a period of 10 years she said.

It is likely that other metropolitan areas face similar phenomena, Coimbra said.

LIMA - Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo's rejection of the new General Law on the Environment, approved by Congress, has opened a debate on the priorities of the population's quality of life and the conditions that most benefit economic growth.

Toledo refused to enact the bill passed in June, and returned it to Congress on Jul. 21, saying its implementation would drive up production costs, undermine companies' competitiveness, and discourage private investment.

Congress has the options of incorporating the president's objections into the bill, holding fast to the approved bill, or postponing the matter indefinitely.

Lawmakers and environmentalists alike maintain that the legislation is needed in order to overcome Peru's lagging behind in environmental policy.

"Failure to enact the law would condemn us to continuing non-compliance with the environmental quality standards recommended by the World Health Organization," Elvira de la Puente, member of the congressional environmental committee, told Tierramérica.

BUENOS AIRES - The international Forest Stewardship Council and the Argentine Fundación Vida Silvestre (Wildlife Foundation) are calling on government and non-governmental organizations to draft standards for managing forests.

"The idea is that everyone can participate in drawing up forest management standards, taking into consideration technical aspects, but also social, economic and environmental factors," Carolina Dioti, of the Fundación Vida Silvestre, told Tierramérica.

The Forest Stewardship Council is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable management of native and cultivated forests through standards designed in consultation with local communities, and it grants certification of forests that meet the corresponding parameters.

For these ends, the first Open Workshop on Forest Certification in Argentina took place last week, with the participation of academics, environmentalists, indigenous leaders, labor activists and government agency representatives.

GUATEMALA CITY - Municipal authorities in the Guatemalan capital began tests to calculate the amount of gas emanating from the city's landfill, with hopes of using it as an energy source for nearby residents.

"The pilot plan has begun and will last three months, a period in which we will determine the quantity and quality of the gas emitted by the waste," Enrique Montano, spokesman for the municipal government, told Tierramérica.

"If it proves usable, the gas will be turned into electricity, which would then benefit the neighbors living near the landfill," he added.

Monitoring of the landfill, which began Jul. 27, has the support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

A 2001 study by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources says the capital's dump at the time was taking in 1,500 tons of garbage a day, and that the site had the capacity to remain open 10 more years.