The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the debt vulnerabilities of many low- and medium-income sovereigns. Debt levels were already high for many even prior to COVID outbreak, but are now exacerbated because government revenues have declined as a result of limited economic activity – while the timing and the quantum of …
Abuses linked to mining in countries such as Myanmar and Colombia are being overlooked by technology companies focused only on eliminating “conflict minerals” from war-torn parts of Africa in their supply chains, researchers said. In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), competition for mineral resources has fuelled two decades of conflict …
Accurately evaluating forest carbon stocks is difficult to do in remote rainforests where researchers are afforded limited access. It is widely believed that only experts can properly measure forest biomass, but a new study found that well-trained indigenous technicians are just as effective at collecting the necessary data to monitor …
We mapped the inferred long-distance migrations of four species of Amazonian goliath catfishes (Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii, B. platynemum, B. juruense and B. vaillantii) based on the presence of individuals with mature gonads and conducted statistical analysis of the expected long-distance downstream migrations of their larvae and juveniles. Original Source
It’s estimated that about 10 per cent of global emissions comes from deforestation — meaning we could make considerable progress toward halting climate change simply by keeping what remains of the world’s forests standing. Agricultural commodities — especially beef, palm oil, soy, and pulp and paper — have become an …
Ongoing deforestation is a pressing, global environmental issue with direct impacts on climate change, carbon emissions, and biodiversity. There is an intuitive link between economic development and overexploitation of natural resources including forests, but this relationship has proven difficult to establish empirically due to both inadequate data and convoluting geo-climactic …
The government of Bolivia, a landlocked country in the heart of South America, has been forced to declare a state of emergency as it faces its worst drought for at least 25 years. Much of the water supply to La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, and the …
Bolivia’s government has declared a state of emergency over the worst drought in 25 years, making funds available to alleviate a crisis that has affected families and the agricultural sector. The vice-ministry of civil defense estimated that the drought has affected 125,000 families and threatened 290,000 hectares (716,605 acres) of …
Water shortages are affecting more than 300,000 people in La Paz. [Aizar RALDES/AFP] Authorities have declared water rationing in La Paz to be a permanent measure as the drought in Bolivia worsens. The three main dams that supply water to the city are almost dry. The main Ajuan Khota dam …
A new report offers evidence that the modest investments needed to secure land rights for indigenous communities will generate billions in returns—economically, socially and environmentally—for local communities and the world’s changing climate. The report, Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights, quantifies for the first …
Infrastructure projects designed to open the western Amazon for investment are to blame for deforestation in parts of Peru, Colombia and Bolivia - rather than coca production, researchers said on Wednesday. Policymakers and U.N. anti-drugs officials have blamed coca farming for destroying forests in the western Amazon, but a study …
Bolivia’s TIPNIS Highway, which would have bisected a national park and remote indigenous lands, was to be largely financed by BNDES, Brazil’s development bank. Instead, the project met with intense protests from indigenous groups and environmentalists, and was abandoned. The highway project was cancelled in 2011 before BNDES had contributed …
LA PAZ – Bolivia plans to file a counter-suit against Chile at the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, over the alleged theft and illegal use of the Silala River, President Evo Morales said Tuesday. Morales discussed Bolivia’s legal plans a day after the Chilean government filed suit in the …
El Nino, the warming of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean, is a completely natural phenomenon which is known to affect the weather in many parts of the world. The current conditions gradually emerged at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. At its peak in December …
Overturned fishing skiffs lie abandoned on the shores of what was Bolivia’s second-largest lake. Beetles dine on bird carcasses and gulls fight for scraps under a glaring sun in what marshes remain. Lake Poopó was officially declared evaporated in December. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have lost their livelihoods …
Bolivia has announced plans to build a $300m nuclear complex, including a research reactor, with Russian technology and help from Argentina. President Evo Morales told reporters the center will include a cyclotron for radiopharmaeuticals, a multi-purpose gamma irradiation plant and a research reactor. The project has drawn criticism from opposition …
FAO and the Swedish-based development cooperation organization We Effect have agreed to work together to strengthen small-scale forest and farm producers' organizations in developing countries so they can access land and markets and improve the livelihoods of their members. A partnership agreement signed today will initially involve eight countries: Bolivia, …
Projected future trends in water availability are associated with large uncertainties in many regions of the globe. In mountain areas with complex topography, climate models have often limited capabilities to adequately simulate the precipitation variability on small spatial scales. Also, their validation is hampered by typically very low station density. …
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) have released the 'Mitigation Advantage Report' at Our Common Future Under Climate Change Science Conference held by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, France. The report …
Latin America has the planet's largest land reserves for agriculture and had the most rapid agricultural expansion during the twenty-first century. A large portion of the expansion replaced forests, as shown by many local and regional studies. However, expansion varied regionally and also replaced other land covers. Further, it is …
Exploitation of the extensive polymetallic deposits of the Andean Altiplano in South America since precolonial times has caused substantial emissions of neurotoxic lead (Pb) into the atmosphere; however, its historical significance compared to recent Pb pollution from leaded gasoline is not yet resolved. We present a comprehensive Pb emission history …
