Latin America and the Caribbean

Written by: Sibélia Zanon Establishing economic value for the service of preserving native vegetation and creating a new source of income for rural producers. These are the objectives of Conserv, a private initiative launched in October by the Brazil-based Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) in...

Written by: Kimberly White Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Paraguay have joined the battle against marine plastic pollution this week at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya. The three nations joined the UN Environment Programme’s Clean Seas campaign. Launched in...

Written by: Victoria Masterson The bioeconomy is becoming big business in Colombia. By protecting and restoring the Amazon rainforest – and cultivating some of its 80,000 plant species – communities are replacing work that once relied on deforestation. Here, we detail three businesses in Colombia that are...

Written by: Matthew Harris If you have turned on a TV or read the news during the past few months, you have probably heard of the widespread fires that wrought havoc on the Amazon rainforest this year. Fires occur in the rainforest every year, but...

Written by: Alex Kirby If the climate crisis keeps you awake at night, the impact of what we casually throw away is sure to have you worried: it makes global heating a lot worse. But Chile’s waste bus is managing to change behaviour in a...

Written by: Kimberly White On Thursday, April 11th, President Sebastián Piñera launched the COP25 climate change summit. Chile will be the host of the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference this December. President Piñera called for tougher and more ambitious steps to be taken to combat...

Courtesy of Forests News Written by: Julie Mollins Indigenous federations and the Peruvian government are confronting obstacles caused by conflicts over land-tenure rights to implement effective climate mitigation programs, raising hopes that their innovative collaborative approach could be replicated in other regions, scientists say. Efforts to introduce REDD+ programs (Reducing...

Courtesy of Landscape News Written by: Ming Chun Tang Wildlife and greenery aren’t Mexico City’s calling cards. But while the world’s fifth-largest metropolis is home to more than 21 million people, it’s also grounds for nearly 4,000 species of flora and fauna, and some 15 percent of its total area consists of national...

Written by: Kimberly White Chile has taken another step forward in their battle against plastic pollution. In April, the Plastics Pact network welcomed its first Latin American Plastics Pact: El Pacto Chileno de los Plásticos. Within the past year, the Plastics Pact Network has seen...

Written by: Stephanie Manuzak Rainforests are an important defense against climate change because they absorb carbon. But many are being destroyed on a massive scale. In the tropics, farmers often slash and burn forests to clear fertile land for crops. The practice involves cutting down vegetation...