BOGOTA - Some 100 photographs of the 46 protected areas in Colombia constitute an album of images with texts that the Environment Ministry has made available on the Internet.

The Colombian ministry's site (www.minambiente.gov.co - in Spanish) was launched early last month and gives the world a chance to enjoy the extraordinary natural beauty of this South American country.

The web surfer can admire, for example, the island of Gorgona, where humpback whales go to give birth; the Tamá Park, where the native black bear can be found; and the only mountainous elevation in the Alta Guajira desert, known as Macuira.

LIMA -A committee in the Peruvian Congress is to review the environmental impact study presented to the Energy Ministry by the Argentine consortium that plans to exploit the natural gas deposits along the Camisea River, in Peru's southeast jungles.

The natural gas wealth of Camisea, 500 km from Lima, is believed to be 13 million cubic feet of natural gas and 600 million barrels of liquid natural gas. The construction of a gas pipeline is slated to reach the capital by December 2003.

The economic importance of the project goes without saying, as it would allow Peru to be less dependent on petroleum imports, but the environmental risks involved with gas exploitation and transport have the lawmakers worried.

SANTIAGO - Chile's exports of forest products to North America and Europe could expand five percent under the environmental certification system that is soon to enter into force.

The first National Standard for Forestry Certification was developed by the 'Fundación Chile', an export-promoting entity, with financial support from the government's Development Corporation.

The lack of environmental certification has threatened Chilean exports with the loss of markets and of 122 million dollars annually.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Water resources and contamination will be the central theme of the fourth Latin American Conference on the Environment (Eco-Latina 2001), to be held Oct 14-18 in Belo Horizonte, capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

Half of the region's population is not served by a sewage system and more than two-thirds of the garbage produced in the cities ends up in inadequate dumping areas, which contaminate the soil and water resources.

Potable water services do not reach a third of the Brazilian and Peruvian populations, nor 10 percent of the Argentine and Mexican populations. These problems give rise to most of the diseases that affect Latin America - and will be up for debate at the conference (www.ecolatina.com.br), which will include a technology and environmental services fair, as well as a round of business talks.