Few studies exist that document how high-elevation Andean ecosystems recover naturally after the cessation of human activities and this can limit the implementation of cost-effective restoration actions. We assessed Andean forest (Polylepis stands) and páramo grassland recovery along an elevation gradient (3,600–4,350 m.a.s.l.) in the Yanacocha Reserve (Ecuador) where natural …
An Argentine appeals court has upheld a move by Buenos Aires to freeze $19 billion in Chevron assets at the request of Ecuador, which blames the oil giant for environmental damage in the Amazon. Court documents showed that the ruling issued on Tuesday rejected Chevron’s position that Argentina lacked jurisdiction …
A former Ecuadorean judge has claimed that after stepping down from the bench, he illegally ghostwrote a judgment in which Chevron was ordered to pay $18.2 billion (11.5 billion pounds) for polluting the rain forest, and that the plaintiffs paid a $500,000 bribe to the judge who issued the ruling. …
Kichwa villagers from Sani Isla vow to resist oil prospecting by state-backed company Petroamazonas at all costs In what looks set to be one of the most one-sided struggles in the history of Amazon forest conservation, an indigenous community of about 400 villagers is preparing to resist the Ecuadorean army …
Divorce not only proves disastrous for children, but is also bad for the environment and contributes to global warming. Sounds ridiculous? Well, it’s not going by recent research findings. The Capital’s Additional District and Sessions Judge, Poonam A. Bamba says that this is true after her detailed research on this …
About a dozen companies are contributing to a novel conservation plan that pays Ecuador to protect part of the Amazon rainforest in return for barring oil drilling, the head of the initiative said on Friday. Ivonne Baki said the scheme to conserve the Yasuni area of the Amazon basin, launched …
An update to one of the most comprehensive maps of the Amazon basin shows that forest cover across the world's largest rainforest declined by about six percent between 2000 and 2010. But the map also reveals hopeful signs that recognition of protected areas and native lands across the eight countries …
Two of the world's last uncontacted tribes are under threat from oil exploration deep into the heart of the Amazon forest in Ecuador, according to conservationists, who say this may indirectly add to the pressure on wildlife. The Tagaeri and the Taromenane – who have fought off illegal loggers and …
Even in death, Lonesome George’s star power burns brightly. After the iconic giant tortoise died last month, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa mourned the reptile’s loss in an address to the nation, expressing hope that “one day, science and technology will be able to reproduce him, to clone him”.
Ecuadorean plaintiffs have filed a second lawsuit outside the Andean country, this time in Brazil, in a bid to enforce an $18 billion court ruling against U.S. oil company Chevron for polluting the Amazon, their lawyers said on Wednesday. The 2011 judgment against Chevron is one of the biggest rulings …
Chevron Corp went to federal court in Miami on Friday seeking to force an Ecuadorean bank to release records of alleged bribes the company says were paid to an independent expert in a multi-billion dollar environmental lawsuit against the oil company. The company is seeking records of eight bank accounts …
Sugarcane-based electricity generation projects in Brazil are being blown out of the water by wind power and other lower-cost energy alternatives, slowing ambitions to expand one of Brazil's largest potential new sources of clean energy, experts said. The world's No. 1 sugar producer and No. 2 ethanol maker amasses 140 …
Ecuadorian plaintiffs in an environmental lawsuit against Chevron Corp. (CVX) said Friday they will soon be able to begin a process in foreign countries to pursue a multibillion-dollar ruling issued by Ecuadorian courts against the U.S. company. Plaintiffs' lawyers have said their strategy to collect the money will include confiscating …
A court in Ecuador has rejected an order by arbitrators that an $18 billion pollution ruling against Chevron should be frozen, but the judges referred an appeal by the U.S. oil company to the country's Supreme Court. A year after the landmark decision against Chevron, a panel working for The …
An arbitration panel reinforced an order that Ecuador's government seek to suspend an $18 billion court award against U.S. oil company Chevron Corp over pollution in the South American country's rainforest. A year after its original order, the three-person panel, working under The Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration, told the …
Chevron said Friday that it had no intention of apologizing for the environmental damage to the Amazon rain forest for which an Ecuadorean court ruled it responsible. Attorneys for both sides have said that if Chevron apologized, its legal liability of $18 billion would have been cut to $9.5 billion. …
An Ecuadorean appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that Chevron Corp should pay $18 billion in damages to plaintiffs who accused the U.S. oil giant of polluting the Amazon jungle and damaging their health. A judge ordered Chevron to pay $8.6 billion in environmental damages last February, but the …
Ecuador's Yasuni-ITT initiative, a pilot project to protect the climate and the rainforest has failed miserably. How might international agreements on environmental protection be achieved in the future?
Eight South American countries pledged Tuesday to boost cooperation to protect one of the planet’s largest natural reserves from deforestation and illegal trafficking in timber and minerals. Representatives of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela gathered in Manaus, northern Brazil, also vowed to speak with one voice …
A World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel has ruled, on September 15, the “dolphin safe” labels used to market tuna in the United States are illegal because they restrict trade. The labels are used to inform consumers that the tuna fish has been caught without harming or killing dolphins. Tuna fishing …
