Promoting environmental awareness in Bolivia
July 18, 2011: Amazon Fund returns from a successful visit in Bolivia.
Amazon Fund representatives have recently returned from Rurrenabaque, a town of 15,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of the Bolivian Amazon.
Amazon Fund chairman Fred Opdam, who has just returned from Bolivia, reports that as part of a new project that aims to promote environmental awareness in the area, Amazon Fund met with partner organization San Miguel del Bala, schools and local authorities. The results of the visit were considerable: a cooperation agreement with San Miguel del Bala; appropriate permits from the local government; and support among the local population and especially in the schools.
High biodiversity
Rurrenabaque (Rurre) is Bolivia's first tourist destination with an average of 30,000 tourists a year. The biggest attractions are the Madidi National Park, Biosphere and Indigenous Reserve Pilón Lajas, and Reserve the Pampas. A wealth of plants and wildlife live in these protected areas. In fact, this ecosystem has the highest biodiversity indices of the entire Amazon region and the world. A remarkable 40% of all South American mammals and amphibians, and more than 10% of all known bird species reside in Madidi National Park. In addition, several indigenous communities, found on the banks of the Rio Beni, Tuichi and Quiquibey are making a living based on eco-and ethno-tourism.
San Miguel del Bala
San Miguel is a Tacana community with 40 families on the border of the Madidi National Park. Almost all residents (95%) participate in their ethno-eco tourism project "Assencion San Miguel del Bala." This organization has two eco lodges, one at the edge and one in N.P. Madidi. At both locations, the organization has an area of 10,000 hectares, which largely consists of primary forest. The lodge in P.N. Madidi is a nearby a clay lick where many different kinds of parrots live and lick clay for its mineral content. Tourists from Rurrenabaque visit the lodges by motor canoe and are offered a program on nature and Tacana culture.
Constantino Nay, the "Gerente" of San Miguel del Bala was invited by Amazon Fund in April this year during the Amazon Dialogues in Ecodrome Zwolle Netherlands to explain about our cooperation.
Little awareness of the value of nature
Currently, most in the Bolivian citizens are detached from nature. In Rurre the population consists of a mix of cultures like Tacana's, Moseten, Tsimani and Esse-Ejja. It is also home to descendants of migrants from the high Altiplano region of Bolivia, such as Aymara and Quechuas. Especially those groups grow, and thus the pressure on nature and environment also increases. Much of the current urban population has little contact with the surrounding forests. Children and students have little awareness of the value of their environment, and many think that nature is "for the tourists". Many adults are simply too busy with their daily life to be thinking about it.
Moreover, there are many threats in and around Rurre. Waste, new infrastructure, oil drilling, a dam, slash-and-burn agriculture, illegal logging, hunting and pet markets. More >>
Promoting environmental awareness
To understand nature, contact with nature is essential. Therefore, practical training and awareness in nature is critical. Currently there are no programs for primary, secondary and higher levels for environmental awareness. Aside from sporadic initiatives, Bolivian scholars have very little access to knowledge about nature and the environment. The means are not there. Visits to local schools and interviews with teachers revealed that the need for these facilities is very high.
Thus the Amazon Fund is working hard in close cooperation with San Miguel del Bala to implement this project to raise environmental awareness in the schools of Rurrenabaque and the region. The project provides programs for primary, secondary and higher school level, with emphasis on practical lessons in nature.
Practical in nature, secondary and higher education
The people of San Miguel, especially the elderly who still lives in the rainforest, have much knowledge about the thousands of plant and animal species of their biodiverse rainforest. That knowledge is very valuable. It should be conserved and brought to the new generation of Rurrenabaque and surrounding areas.
For this reason we want to enable schools to follow excursions at the land of San Miguel del Bala. The groups will consist of maximum 10 students, a teacher and a parent. The canoe trip to San Miguel takes about 40 minutes. The focus will be on fieldwork in the rainforest. Guides of San Miguel del Bala offer guidance in studying, experiencing, and appreciating nature. Knowledge and understanding of the coherence between soil and life is the focal point in our fieldwork. The program will help students gain competence at finding ecological connections in the environment, particularly in tropical forests. Other aspects of the program are nature conservation, biodiversity, ecological services (ecosystem services), forestry and agro-forestry, wetlands, energy, carbon sequestration and climate change.
The practical lessons in nature are complemented by classes in schools for teachers and students in Rurre.
One key for success will be to involve interested university students by offering them the opportunity to conduct their practical training (internship). Their practical activities will be determined through (preliminary) fieldwork, after the formulation of a work plan including objectives, methodology, and materials. In addition to the involvement of thesis students of the state university, we aim to involve individuals from local communities, training and engaging them as guides and field assistants.
School gardens and sanitation for primary schools
At the request of the schools we want to create school gardens for primary level so that children can grow their own vegetables. Further, the directors and teachers of Rurrenabaque expressed that support in waste management is highly desirable.
This component will be implemented in association with NME Mundial. This originally Dutch foundation has been successful in the last five years with the creation of school gardens in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba. Assuredlyl Cochabamba is a city with different circumstances than those in the Amazon region, but the principle is the same. Arnold Brouwer, director NME Mundial Bolivia, Cochabamba, visited Rurrenabaque in June for a presentation to stakeholders, schools and San Miguel.
What do we want to achieve
Our goal is to increase the appreciation of, and respect for nature, and to ensure that the local people understand the value of their surrounding nature. Raising awareness is not only important to bring an understanding of nature, it is also crucial comprehending the many threats the forests and wetlands face. Awareness starts with the youth because they are the future. The aim is that eventually the program will be used throughout the Bolivian Amazon region.
For $ 12.00 per person (or $ 144,00 for a group of 12), scholars from Rurrenabaque can join an excursion to San Miguel del Bala. These costs include transportation, meals and a guide. But this money should be there first.
Therefore please support this initiative and donate.
$ 12.00 for a student or $ 144,00 for a group of 12.
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Threats to the region Rurre
The Amazon region of Bolivia includes 8% of the Amazon Basin. This 8% is under great pressure from (illegal) logging, farming, oil, soy and coca plantations, burning, mining and new infrastructure.
Also in the region of Rurrenbaque, the rainforests, the dry and wet savannahs are under pressure. The indigenous inhabitants of Madidi and Pilón Lajas fight for their land rights and are reluctant regarding plans for oil exploitation in the protected areas Pilón Lajas and Madidi. Meanwhile, one third of N.P. Madidi has been released for oil exploitation. Article >>
There is great doubt about the construction of the Bala Dam, a long-standing and large-scale project in the Rio Beni, 45 minutes upstream from Rurre it must be built. This will have serious consequences for nature and people.
Against the will of most residents there will be a road through Rurrenabaque, Beni at the Rio San Buenaventura, a city of 8,000 residents. Residents of Rurre advocate for an alternative around the city. Article >>
Additional environmental insults found in this region include illegal logging, hunting and collection for the pet trade. The construction of roads and infrastructure will only encourage these destructive practices.
Article >>
