News stories by Fabiana Frayssinet* - Tierramérica

Brazilian and international environmental organisations and peasant farmer movements are taking aim at the forestry industry once again, this time accusing transnational corporation Stora Enso of illegally profiting from the production of wood pulp in the state of Bahia.

The longstanding debate between eviction or upgrading of Rio's 'favelas' or slums has gathered new force as this one-time capital of Brazil still shows the hillside scars left by rain-induced landslides in early April.

Scientists in Brazil are developing a technique for absorbing industry-produced carbon dioxide before it ever reaches the atmosphere. The secret lies in half-centimetre ceramic spheres.

For the past 43 years, biologists Edna and Luiz Toledo have not waited for the garbage truck to collect their trash. Their three-storey house is in fact made out of 'garbage', from the floor to the roof. Items that others would see as worthless are, in their eyes, valuable raw material.