National Assembly (AN) addresses environmental issues as part of Venezuela's celebration of World Environment Day

A plenary session of the National Assembly (AN), attended by 40 children, is addressing environmental issues today as part of Venezuela's celebration of World Environment Day. Earle Herrera, chairman of the AN Environment Commission, is hosting children from the 'Geografía Viva' Association (Geography Alive) to discuss waste management in Caracas parks as well as Global Warming and deforestation at the source of the Rio Guaribe which is nadly polluted from garbage and sewerage Geography Alive is dedicated to environmental education and culture through the PAS (Participation for a Healthy Environment) program.

Deputy Carlos Medina, chairman of the Control & Monitoring subcommittee will be the Speaker during the special session on and lawyer Edgar Useche, a member of the Task Force of the Committee on Environment will receive the Mayor of Caracas' special 'Order Guarairas Repano' for his work as an environmentalist.

Environment committee deputy chairman Julio Garcia Jarpa has also announced the completion of a Special Parliamentary Report authored by Useche on environmental concerns related to La Tortuga Island.

Meanwhile, as part of the World Environment Day celebrationa, President Hugo Chavez has approved the national Forests Law which Environment Minister Yubiri Ortega de Carrizales says establishes the legal framework regulating preservation of the environment in Venezuela. Chavez has also approved management plans and regulations for use of Venezuela's largest Ticoporo Forest Reserve. A wildlife sanctuary has been decreed in what is known as the Paraguana Caves which are inhabited by a rare species of bats.