04 Sep 2008 - It
has been 10 years since the institutionalization
in terms of the functioning of the Sernap
(National Service for Protected Areas) in
1998, a decentralized unit of the Ministry
of Agricultural and Rural Development and
Environment responsible for coordinating
the functioning of the National Protected
Areas System and guaranteeing its integral
management. In 2005, the Bolivian Government,
through Supreme Decree Nr. 28315, officially
declared September 4th as National Protected
Areas Day.
A reason to be proud
Bolivia, one of the 15 most mega-diverse
countries on the planet, has a System with
22 national protected areas covering over
15% of its national territory. In addition,
and complementary to the national system,
Bolivia also has departmental, municipal
and private protected areas.
The Department of Santa
Cruz alone has more than 100,000 km2 of
national, departmental, municipal and private
protected areas, and, with over 30% of its
territory under protection, it leads the
country’s other eight departments - both
in terms of total protected surface area
and percentage of the department’s surface
area under protection.
At the same time, the
Department of Santa Cruz is the “bread basket”
of Bolivia with important activities such
as agriculture, cattle ranching and forestry
management, proving that conservation can
be compatible with other activities.
The protected areas
provide important services to its population:
Conservation of biological diversity: genes,
species and its habitats, both for intrinsic
rights and values, as well because current
and future generations can obtain benefits
(medicines, materials, fibers, etc.)
Extraction of natural resources such as
wood, fiber, food, medicines and others,
within the allowed management categories
Infrastructure protection: Have you thought
about what could happen, for example, with
roads and bridges that connect the cities
of Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, if the Amboro
Protected Area and its forests didn’t exist
considering they control the Ichilo, Yapacani,
Surutu and many other rivers that originate
in this area?
Provision of water: Good examples of this
are Carrasco or Amboro Protected Areas and
the water supply they offer to many surrounding
peasant communities as well as to cities
like Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. The underground
reservoirs of these cities obtain water
produced by Amboro Protected Area
Climate regulation, including rainfall and
temperature
Production of pollen and shelter for crop
pollinating insects
Recreation and tourism: Areas such as Madidi
and Eduardo Avaroa provide – through tourism
– the main sources of income for some of
the municipalities which overlap with these
protected areas
Additionally, Bolivia has managed to develop
a system where numerous management and funding
tools have been experimented with, established
and consolidated, such as management committees,
trust funds, entrance fee systems, sale
of environmental services, and many others
which have nothing to envy from systems
applied in neighboring countries.
Protected areas are public. They belong
to all of us, and we need to respect and
defend them from short term interests, since
our future very much depends on them. Let’s
celebrate and enjoy them! Let’s visit and
make them a part of our lives! Let’s support
our protected areas and September 4th!
Background
Bolivia’s National Protected Areas System
aims at conserving the natural and cultural
patrimony of the country, and improving
the quality of life of the population linked
to protected areas. Protected areas are
natural areas, with or without human intervention,
declared under protection of the State for
sheltering the great natural landscape and
cultural richness of the country. The State,
represented hereby the Sernap, is responsible
for protecting and conserving the flora,
fauna, natural ecosystems, hydrographical
basins and values considered of scientific,
aesthetic, economic, social and cultural
interest for Bolivia, and thus contributing
to its sustainable development.
Santa Cruz’s Departmental
Protected Areas System shelters representative
samples and ecosystems of 26 protected areas
within the Department of Santa Cruz. The
Departmental Autonomous Government of Santa
Cruz has issued its sustainable development
public policies, and within these, the Departmental
Protected Areas Policy. Also, since 2005
this entity is consolidating the Departmental
Protected Areas System.
WWF Bolivia currently
supports the following protected areas:
In the Bolivian Amazon: Iténez (Beni)
and Manuripi (Pando)
In the Bolivian Pantanal: San Matías
and Otuquis (Santa Cruz)
In previous years WWF Bolivia has also supported
other protected areas, such as Bruno Racua,
Tiquipaya, Amboró, Carrasco and Noel
Kempff Mercado.
WWF, the global conservation organization,
is one of the world’s largest and most respected
independent conservation organizations.
WWF has a global network active in over
100 countries with almost 5 million supporters.
WWF’s mission is to
stop the degradation of the earth’s natural
environment and to build a future in which
humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving
the world’s biological diversity, ensuring
that the use of renewable natural resources
is sustainable, and promoting the reduction
of pollution and wasteful consumption.
