Roundup: LatAm reviews ecological hits, misses on World Environment Day

Latin American countries marked World Environment Day Friday by taking stock of how their actions and inaction are affecting the planet.

In Argentina, the Environment Ministry celebrated a conservation law passed in 2007 that has helped slow the rate of deforestation.

The Law for the Protection of Forests has reduced the rate of deforestation by 60 percent, state news agency Telam reported, citing data from the ministry.

Between 2006 and 2007, Argentina lost some 720,000 hectares of natural forest land, mostly due to agricultural encroachment in the country's central and northern provinces.

From 2007 to 2013, the annual rate of deforestation registered 300,000 hectares, while the 2013 to 2014 period saw the figures drop even further to 188,000 hectares.

"The law ... marked a before and after in caring for our native forests," Environmental Minister Sergio Lorusso said, adding " caring for the forests is a primordial tool for fighting the disturbances of climate change."

Costa Rica, a popular tourism destination famed for its wildlife, used the occasion to take a critical look at how contemporary living is burdening the environment.

The Central American country's La Nacion daily warned that "in 14 years, Ticos (Costa Ricans) have duplicated the amount of trash generated daily."

The daily blamed the increase in garbage on a growing population and consumer trends that favor disposable items. It also lamented that "educational efforts focus on how to treat waste and not on how to produce less" garbage in the first place.

"Costa Ricans, some accustomed since childhood to think of their country as a 'green paradise', appear to be trying to dirty it," the daily said.

"While in 2000, the population generated a daily average of 2, 750 metric tons of waste, in 2014 it was 5,735 metric tons, according to the Health Ministry," La Nacion said.

Citizen participation is key to improving the situation, Darner Mora, director of a conservation program at the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewer Systems, told the daily.

"I assure you that if people don't take an interest, if they demand nothing from their city and from themselves, nothing will change," said Mora.

"Why are Belen, Zarcero, Sarchi, Jimenez (and) San Rafael de Heredia kept clean?" asked Mora, naming a few of the country's best-maintained cities. "Because those who live there got involved. "

Meanwhile, in Brazil, as in many other countries, public school students took part in a range of activities to raise environmental awareness.

Students from public schools in eastern Brasilia, the capital, spent the morning at the Zoo and Botanical Park in Teresina, where they planted seedlings and participated in educational activities on wildlife preservation and water conservation, the country's leading G1 news website said.

Cuba has been celebrating World Environment Day since 1979, when it created the National Commission for the Protection of the Environment and Rational Use of Natural Resources (Comarna).

This year's ceremonies were headquartered in the western province of Artemisa, a largely agricultural region selected for having registered the most success in implementing conservation policies.

Residents there reported a 20-percent increase in forest land, accompanied by a drop in the number of hectares affected by forest fires, an increase in the number of protected areas.

The province also boosted its use of renewable energy sources, and today has 112 wind turbines, 159 solar-powered heating systems, 150 solar panels, among other environmentally-friendly sources of energy.

Since 2015 was declared the "International Year of Soils" by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013, Cuba also organized a congress on the subject that drew more than 300 specialists from 20 countries to Havana, where the event was to wrap up Friday. The experts warned of the dangers that erosion and acid rain, among other threats, are having on soil quality, which is essential for food security, a priority concern as the planet's total population reaches the 7 billion mark. Endite