Below are summaries of the most popular stories by our Spanish language service, Mongabay Latam, from the week of May 21-27. Among the top articles: deforestation is clearing the tiny habitat of Colombia’s Caquetá titi monkey. In other news, a court gives Peru’s health ministry 30 days for an emergency health plan for communities affected by oil spills in the Amazon. Also, real-time monitoring integrates images and sounds of the Amazon.
Colombia: Deforestation clears tiny habitat of Caquetá titi monkey
The Caquetá titi monkey was declared Critically Endangered not only because it is endemic to a small part of the Amazonian plateau, but also because it inhabits a province that has lost more than 200,000 hectares of forest, an area the size of Luxeumbourg, in the last ten years.
Peru: Court orders emergency health strategy for Amazon communities affected by oil spills
After years of legal battle, the supreme court of Loreto gave the health ministry 30 days to come up with an emergency health plan for Amazon indigenous communities affected by a 2014 oil spill. A document obtained by Mongabay showed the ministry had not complied with a previous court order for specialized services.
Ecuador: Waoranis take a ‘toxic tour’ to understand the impacts of oil
“The land is dead,” was the sentence from a resident of virgin rainforest perplexed by the devastation left by the petroleum industry in Pacayacu, in the northern Amazon of Ecuador. The Waoranis of Pastaza took a ‘toxic tour’ ahead of a possible oil concession on their territory.
Mexico: Sonora gas line divides Yaqui communities and unleashes a wave of violence
Eighteen kilometers of the 330-km Guayamas-El Oro gas pipeline will cross the territory of the Yaqui indigenous community of Loma de Bácum, and it’s the first branch that is responsible for Yaquis fighting among themselves. The most visible remains of the latest violent episode are still seen in Loma de Bácum town center.
Peru’s Environmental Minister: “We will not permit environmental impunity.”
Eight ministries are collaborating on the issue of illegal mining, particularly to stop the use of mercury, human trafficking and child labor, revealed Environment Minister Fabiola Muñoz in an interview with Mongabay.
Providence Project: Real-time monitoring integrates images and sounds of the Amazon
When the researchers Emiliano Esterci and Michel André met three years ago, they didn’t imagine that they were going revolutionize how to observe biodiversity in the Amazon. Both had experience in species monitoring technology: Esterci in images and André with sound. From these scientific conversations arose the Providence Project, a real-time monitoring system of the Amazon landscape that integrates sound and video. The project seeks to monitor a protected area in real time for the first time.
Read these stories in Spanish here.