Bolivia: Parks and Protected Areas

Submitted by The Catt-Trax2 Team on Thu, 2006/12/21 - 2:35pm.
Report prepared by Krystal Brennan and Jen Sarchuk, students in BCIT’s Fish, Wildlife and Recreation Program

Thirty-five percent of the Bolivia’s territory is designated national parkland. The national protected areas make up 175,000km2, which is seventeen percent of Bolivia’s territory. Conservation is carried out under the authority of the National System from Protected Areas (Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas) or SNAP or SERNAP. SNAP’s main objective is the conservation of biodiversity. Under SNAP there are twenty-one regions and seventeen of them are being managed. Many ecosystems in Bolivia are protected under SNAP, however there are still some ecosystems that require protection. Also, more conservation is needed at the municipal level. Bolivia is lacking national, departmental, municipal, and community land use plans.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has worked with Bolivians to help protect many different areas. The WCS also helps to protect Madidi National Park. The WCS helped establish Kaa-lya National Park, which is the first national park developed by an indigenous group. The WCS still helps the indigenous people mange this area.

Foundation for the Development of the National System of Protected Areas or FUNDESNAP (Fundación para el Desarrollo del Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas) is a non-profit foundation created to manage Protected Areas in Bolivia.

Some of Bolivia’s best park or protected areas are: Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Madid National Park, Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve, and Kaa Iya National Park. Madidi National Park was created in 1995 and is 18,957 km2. This park supports over 1,000 bird species, over 5000 species of vascular plants with about 800 mosses and liverworts, and rare mammals like the jaguar (Felis pardalis), and the Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus). Agriculture and road construction are the biggest threats to Madidi National Park. Noel Kempff Mercado National Park is a very desirable destination in Bolivia. The park consists of a plateau made of sandstone. This park is also home to the giant river otters that comprise one tenth of the world’s population of 1,000. Also, 4,000 species of plants — 2,000 being orchids — have been documented in this park.

Bolivia has six World Heritage Sites:
  • City of Potosí
  • Fuerte de Samaipata
  • Historic City of Sucre
  • Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos
  • Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture
  • Noel Kempff Mercado National Park.

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