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Title: Latin America and the Caribbean - Atlas of Our Changing Environment

Organizations: Centro del Agua del Trópico Húmedo para América Latina y El Caribe (CATHALAC), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)

Date: 20107

Language: English, Spanish

Number of pages: 26, with color images

Eco-Index Summary: This report illustrates major environmental changes in the Latin American and Caribbean region over the past few decades with maps, tables, graphs, texts and more than 200 satellite images. The Atlas contains three chapters; the first two present regional information while the third details the environmental problems of importance for each country and presents case studies of 65 countries. The report shows that the natural and human treasures of the region are under intense pressure from the predominant economic development models, and warns about the alarming advancement of the social and environmental changes caused by this development. The researchers developed the Atlas as a tool to identify geographic and thematic "hotspots" that require urgent action to contain and manage the consequences of changes in the region's ecosystems and for human well-being.

Title: A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness: Development and Conservation in the Context of the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA)

Author: Timothy J. Killeen

Organizations: Conservation International

Date: 2007

Language: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Number of pages: 102

Eco-Index Summary: This report reviews current conservation and development issues in the Amazon wilderness area and in the cerrado and the tropical Andes biodiversity hotspots, focusing on the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA). It features an overview of the IIRSA, drivers of change in the region, biodiversity in a variety of ecosystems, ecosystem services, social considerations in the region, environmental assessments and plans for development, and concludes with a discussion on "avoiding the end of the Amazon", including payment for ecosystem services, alternate production systems, engaging local governments, and designing conservation landscapes.

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