From the editor.

• Position: Editorial

In the midst of the world economic crisis, Americas reminds our readers of some of the encouraging happenings in our hemisphere: beautifully preserved environments that continue to exist in spite of global warming; a cultural bank that creates jobs and income in disadvantaged communities; the internationally recognized quality of our products; the resilience of our people; and the fact that the past informs our present.

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We found good news (green news) in Guyana, a small Amazonian country that has preserved an intact ecosystem and promoted sustainable logging and a growing number of ecotourism activities. These assets are attracting the attention of scientists and policy makers working on sustainable development and environmental conservation. We also visited Coiba National Park, a living jewel of the Panamanian Pacific and one of the few places in the world that shelters mangroves, coral reefs, and tropical jungle in the same archipelago. This is a paradise that must be saved from unregulated fishing.

The natural world, and human actions within that world, have also left their mark on history. One Americas author uncovered some interesting comparisons and contrasts between the reconstruction process that followed an eighteenth century earthquake in Lima and the one that occurred three centuries later after the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.

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Then, as a reminder of people's resilience and tenacity, we travelled to Ecuador where we found that small producers have...