Latin America and the Caribbean

Written by: Maria Salazar Under the sea, jutting into the Pacific from the southern Peruvian department of Ica, rises a mountain range called Dorsal de Nasca. The 93 submarine mountains harbor more than 1,100 species, many of them endemic, and a section of the...

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: Karla Mendes Brazilian authorities announced the seizure of almost 29 tons of shark fins in June, exposing the extent of what they described as illegal fishing in the country. It was apparently the world’s largest confiscation in history: The largest previous seizure reportedly...

Written by: Jim Daley Fires raging across the Amazon in recent weeks have gripped the world’s attention and renewed concerns over deforestation in this iconic ecosystem. The widespread use of fire to deliberately clear the rain forest not only endangers its rich biodiversity but also...

Written by: Kimberly White  Mexico City has been recognized for its work to combat the climate crisis. WWF has announced that Mexico City is the Global Winner of its 2020 One Planet City Challenge (OPCC). Created in 2011, the OPCC aims to mobilize cities to take...

Written by: Kimberly White  Panama’s plastic bag ban has gone into effect. Panama became the first Central American country to ban single-use plastic bags in 2018.  As of July 20th, retailers, supermarkets, and pharmacies can no longer use polyethylene bags. Similar to other single-use plastics bans, businesses...

Written by: Kimberly White  Ecuador has moved to bar mining activity in the Los Cedros Protected Forest in a landmark case. The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has ruled that plans to mine copper and gold in the protected cloud forest violate the rights of nature.  Spanning...

Written by: Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz In Morovis, a town in the center of Puerto Rico’s main island, lies the Las Cabachuelas nature reserve, a green labyrinth of approximately 1,950 acres. This place — known for its numerous caves — holds pre-colonial stories, rock art and...

Written by: Kimberly White Best known for its beaches and annual Carnival, the city of Rio de Janeiro has taken a step in its battle against air pollution stemming from the millions of vehicles on the city’s streets. In an effort to work towards a more...

Courtesy of Landscape News Written by: Natasha Vizcarra An international panel of 200 scientists has called for a halt to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, saying the biome plays a critical role in global water cycles and regulating climate variability and therefore must be protected. “We are scientists who...