CARACAS, Mar 12 (Tierramérica) - A team led by physicist Alejandro Müller, of the polymer research department at Venezuela's Simón Bolívar University, is working on a new biodegradable plastic based on a mixture of polycaprolacton and manioc fiber (Manihot esculenta).

The two materials "are as different as oil and water, but by making them compatible with a simple mixture, without many additives, we can achieve a type of plastic that, although costly, is more environmentally friendly," Müller told Tierramérica.

The product, "developed as a plastic packing material, can degrade once it is thrown out as organic garbage and become part of the biomass. The ideal is for everything to be biodegradable," he said.

The new plastic can be used for manufacturing medical supplies to plates and utensils. "We are still in the laboratory phase, but industries are already showing interest," said the physicist.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 12 (Tierramérica) - Preventing contamination by recycling used cooking oil is the aim of a University of Sao Paulo project, run by the clean technology lab, Ladetel, in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil's sugar cane capital.

"Each liter of used oil that is thrown out can contaminate 10,000 liters of water," chemist Vinicius Sellani, a coordinator of the project that collects used cooking oil from schools and restaurants, told Tierramérica.

The students bring the oil from their homes to the school and receive instruction about contamination and biofuels, including a fieldtrip to the Ladetel plant. The project already involves the neighboring cities and many distant towns are expressing interest in similar projects.

HAVANA, Mar 12 (Tierramérica) - Measures to preserve the habitat of the bird known as Fernandina's Flicker (Colaptes fernandinae) in a protected area of the central Cuban province of Villa Clara are helping to boost the population of this endangered species.

The special care intensifies during its reproductive season, from March to September, José Antonio Santos, an expert with the Villa Clara Flora and Fauna Protection agency, told Tierramérica.

The measures include prevention of forest fires and limiting the number of people entering the nesting area in the Monte Ramonal reserve.

There is also a ban on cutting down the cane palm (Sabal unbraculiferae), the nesting preference of the flicker, endemic to Cuba.

TEGUCIGALPA, Mar 12 (Tierramérica) - Civil society movements in Honduras gave their greatest show of force in three years on Mar. 6 by paralyzing the country for delays in approving two laws for regulating mining and forest industries.

Led by the Roman Catholic bishop of the western department of Copán, Luis Alfonso Santos, the demonstrators blocked highway traffic for more than three hours.

"The blockade was peaceful, but this is a warning. If the government fails to comply with the commitments it signed eight months ago, we are going to step up our actions," Renán Valdez, of the Civic Alliance for Democracy, told Tierramérica.

In an attempt to placate the members of the Alliance and of the National Coordination of Popular Resistance -- who organized the protest -- President Manuel Zelaya had promised to in 2006 to enact the two laws, bogged down for more than six years.