Venezuela Recognized for Protecting the Amazon

Venezuela is the nation with the 10th-largest amount of biodiversity in the world. Efforts to protect that biodiversity are highlighted in a new study by RAISG, or La Red Amazónica de Información Socioambiental Georreferenciada.

According to the study, Venezuela has the second-highest proportion of its Amazon region protected. The Amazonian basin covers an astounding 3 million square miles in South America, overlapping several different countries and encompassing a population of perhaps 33 million. Venezuela has already protected 71.5% of its share — second only to Ecuador’s 79.7%, and far ahead of Colombia, Brazil, and Peru.

RAISG measured Indigenous territory and other protected lands, which are generally the best conserved. Venezuela has 43 national parks. A respect for nature is enshrined in the constitution of Venezuela under a chapter that guarantees all citizens the right to a safe and healthy environment.

Since the Amazon Rainforest is often called the “lungs” of South America, we can breathe a little easier thanks to Venezuela.

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Venezuela to Help Bolivia Build Recycled ‘Petrocasas’

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales announced today that Bolivia will soon begin building recycled “petrocasas” with the help of Venezuela. These low-cost plastic dwellings are built with waste generated by oil refining, and are providing a solution to economic and environmental pressures. Tens of thousands have already been erected in Venezuela as well as Cuba and Peru. It was in Peru where Morales first saw the petrocasas and the role they played in the country’s recovery after a 2007 earthquake.

With an investment of $80 million, Bolivia will open a factory to produce petrocasas in Oruro. The first recipients will reportedly be the relatives of the victims of Bolivia’s “gas wars” of 2003. The eco-friendly houses will go up in low income areas, including El Alto and Trinidad. The project was announced at an event commemorating the 228th anniversary of the first uprising against the Spanish colonists.

See our last post on petrocasas here. For coverage in Spanish, see Reuters.

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Venezuela: Environmental Concerns Prevail Over Mining

Because its economy based largely on natural resource exports, Venezuela faces particular challenges with regard to environmental sustainability. How can a country draw on the Earth’s riches while ensuring their long-term availability?

One way is to prevent excess exploitation. This is exactly what Venezuela’s Ministry of the Environment has recently done by curtailing gold mining activities in the Imataca Forest in the southeastern state of Bolívar. This region of Venezuela boasts an amazing amount of bird species, and birding is one of the country’s top tourist attractions. Five major Indigenous groups living in and around the Imataca Forest have been adversely affected by the mining.

The Ministry of the Environment responded the concerns of environmentalists and local communities alike last week when it rescinded a permit allowing gold and copper exploitation by the company Gold Reserve Inc. Meanwhile, another firm called Crystallex International was denied a request to expand its own mining operations. Now that sustainability is the goal, many now believe that Venezuela’s natural wealth will last for a long time to come.

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