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BOLIVIA
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Bolivia Forest Figures
Forest Cover
Total forest area: 58,740,000 ha
% of land area: 54.2%
Primary forest cover: 29,360,000 ha
% of land area: 27.1%
% total forest area: 50.0%
Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005
Annual change in forest cover: -270,200 ha
Annual deforestation rate: -0.5%
Change in defor. rate since '90s: 4.4%
Total forest loss since 1990: -4,055,000 ha
Total forest loss since 1990:-6.5%
Primary or "Old-growth" forests
Annual loss of primary forests: -135200 ha
Annual deforestation rate: -0.5%
Change in deforestation rate since '90s: 4.5%
Primary forest loss since 1990: -676,000 ha
Primary forest loss since 1990:-6.5%
Forest Classification
Public: n/a
Private: n/a
Other: n/a
Use
Production: 0%
Protection: 0%
Conservation: 20%
Social services: 0%
Multiple purpose: 80%
None or unknown: 0
Forest Area Breakdown
Total area: 58,740,000 ha
Primary: 29,360,000 ha
Modified natural: 29,360,000 ha
Semi-natural: n/a
Production plantation: 20,000 ha
Production plantation: n/a
Plantations
Plantations, 2005: 20,000 ha
% of total forest cover: n.s.%
Annual change rate (00-05): n/a
Carbon storage
Above-ground biomass: 7,828 M t
Below-ground biomass: 2,740 M t
Area annually affected by
Fire: 1,907,000 ha
Insects: n/a
Diseases: n/a
Number of tree species in IUCN red list
Number of native tree species: 2,700
Critically endangered: 4
Endangered: 9
Vulnerable: 57
Wood removal 2005
Industrial roundwood: 582,000 m3 o.b.
Wood fuel: 38,000 m3 o.b.
Value of forest products, 2005
Industrial roundwood: $49,220,000
Wood fuel: $321,000
Non-wood forest products (NWFPs): n/a
Total Value: $49,541,000
More forest statistics for Bolivia
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Bolivia has substantial rainforest cover in its lowland areas: the Bolivian Amazon covers 229,985 square miles (59.6 million hectares) of which roughly two-thirds is forested. About half of Bolivia's forest cover consists of primary forest.
From 1986-1990, the country had a low deforestation rate—about 0.2 percent annually—due to several factors including the Andean-based government's inattention to the lowland parts of the country, the extreme poverty of the country (the government could not afford to offer subsidies to forest developers or construct infrastructure), and the weak export market of this land-locked country. However, during the 1990s, Bolivia's deforestation rate more than doubled to 270,400 hectares per year. The government granted some 20 million hectares to timber companies, while large swaths of forest were cleared for soybean and coca cultivation. Though the government passed laws that required the logging industry to replant forests to ensure sustainability, loopholes made it possible for many firms to bypass the requirement. Further, illegal logging operations smuggled timber into Brazil where it was exported as Brazilian wood.
Today logging continues in Bolivia, though the country has now certified more than two million hectares of its forests, making the it the world leader in tropical forest certification, according to WWF. In 2005 the certified forest sector in Bolivia generated $16 million from exports, a substantial amount given Bolivia's relatively paltry volume of reported wood exports (2,000 metric tons in 2002 according to FAO).
Greater threats to Bolivia's forests come from oil and gas development, commercial agricultural expansion, subsistence agriculture and fuelwood collection, and land-clearing for cattle pasture. In 2005, fires set for land-clearing burned out of control during the record Amazon drought. All told, some 500,000 hectares of forest and pasture land went up in smoke. Agricultural fires are likely to worsen in the future as population pressures mount and the Amazon region experiences drier conditions due to climate change.
It is unclear how the election of Bolivia's first-ever president of indigenous-descent, Evo Morales, will affect development in rainforest areas. As of February 2006, Morales had not blocked energy projects in the country, nor called for expansion of the country's coca crop.
Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and is dependent on foreign aid from multilateral lenders and foreign governments. Bolivia's high international debt has presented interesting opportunities for conservation. In 1987 Conservation International initiated the first "debt-for-nature" swap when it purchased $650,000 worth of Bolivian debt for only $100,000. In exchange for being relieved of the obligation to repay a portion of its international debt, the country agreed to set aside funds to promote conservation by encouraging sustainable development, expanding environmental education programs, purchasing land, and improving land management. After the apparent success of the program, in December 1996, the U.S. and Bolivian governments agreed to protect 2.2 million acres (880 000 hectares) of rainforest and to promote sustainable development in and around Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, in part of an international effort to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases. In December 2005, the project was expanded to 3.8 million acres (1.5 million hectares).
Including Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, more than 11 percent of Bolivia is officially protected. Bolivia is the twelfth most biodiverse country on Earth with 2,194 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, and more than 17,000 species of plants. In 2005, Bolivia's biodiversity made science news headlines when Dr. Robert Wallace of the Wildlife Conservation Society discovered a new species of titi monkey in the Madidi protected area. The monkey is now known for its distinctive territorial song.
Recent articles | Bolivia news updates | XML
Majority of Andes' biodiversity hotspots remain unprotected
(02/01/2012) Around 80 percent of the Andes' most biodiverse and important ecosystems are unprotected according to a new paper published in the open-access journal BMC Ecology. Looking at a broad range of ecosystems across the Andes in Peru and Bolivia, the study found that 226 endemic species, those found no-where else, were afforded no protection whatsoever. Yet time is running out, as Andean ecosystems are undergoing incredible strain: a combination of climate change and habitat destruction may be pushing many species into ever-shrinking pockets of habitat until they literally have no-where to go.
Picture of the day: the world's largest bromeliad
(01/30/2012) Found in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, the world's biggest bromeliad Puya raimondii is imperiled by climate change and human disturbances.
Top 10 Environmental Stories of 2011
(12/22/2011) Many of 2011's most dramatic stories on environmental issues came from people taking to the streets. With governments and corporations slow to tackle massive environmental problems, people have begun to assert themselves. Victories were seen on four continents: in Bolivia a draconian response to protestors embarrassed the government, causing them to drop plans to build a road through Tipnis, an indigenous Amazonian reserve; in Myanmar, a nation not known for bowing to public demands, large protests pushed the government to cancel a massive Chinese hydroelectric project; in Borneo a three-year struggle to stop the construction of a coal plant on the coast of the Coral Triangle ended in victory for activists; in Britain plans to privatize forests created such a public outcry that the government not only pulled back but also apologized; and in the U.S. civil disobedience and massive marches pressured the Obama Administration to delay a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring tar sands from Canada to a global market.
Animal picture of the day: rare photo of mother jaguar and cubs
(12/21/2011) A mother jaguar, named Kaaiyana by scientists, and cubs were recently photographed in Kaa Iya National Park in Bolivia. "Kaaiyana’s tolerance of observers is a testimony to the absence of hunters in this area, and her success as a mother means there is plenty of food for her and her cubs to eat," said John Polisar, coordinator of Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Jaguar Conservation Program. WCS released the photos.
REDD at a crossroads in Bolivia
(11/30/2011) Bolivia has a central role in the debate over how to shape the reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) mechanism, argues a new report published by the Democracy Center.
8 Amazon countries pledge more coordination in rainforest conservation
(11/27/2011) Eight Amazon countries pledged greater cooperation in efforts to protect the world's largest rainforest from deforestation and illegal mining and logging, reports AFP.
Bolivian road project through Amazon reserve canceled
(10/23/2011) Following a violent crackdown on protestors which deeply embarrassed the Bolivian government, president Evo Morales has thrown-out plans to build a road through an indigenous reserve, reports the BBC. Protestors marched 310 miles (498 kilometers) from the Amazon to La Paz to show their opposition to the road, saying that the project would destroy vast areas of biodiverse rainforest and open up their land to illegal settlers.
Picture of the day: jaguars take self-portraits in Bolivia
(10/19/2011) A study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Bolivia's Madidi National Park has produced 19 jaguar 'self-portraits' via digital cameras that snap photos of wildlife when they cross an infrared beam, known as camera traps. This is the most jaguars catalogued by camera trap study yet in Bolivia. "The preliminary results of this new expedition underscore the importance of the Madidi landscape to jaguars and other charismatic rainforest species," said Dr. Julie Kunen, Director of WCS’s Latin America and Caribbean Program, in a press release.
Following violent crackdown against protestors, Bolivia puts Amazon road project on ice
(09/27/2011) After a police crackdown against indigenous activists, Bolivian President Evo Morales has suspended a large highway project through the Amazon rainforest. The police reaction—which included tear gas, rounding up protestors en masse, and allegations of violence—resulted in several officials stepping down in protest of the government's handling. Some indigenous people marched 310 miles (498 kilometers) from the Amazon to La Paz to show solidarity against the road, saying they had not been consulted and the project would destroy vast areas of biodiverse rainforest.
Cute animal picture of the day: baby Bolivian gray titi monkey
(09/07/2011) The Bolivian gray titi monkey (Callicebus donacophilus) is found in a small area of the Amazon in Bolivia and Brazil.
Indigenous protestors embark on 300-mile walk to protest Amazon road in Bolivia
(08/21/2011) Indigenous protesters are targeting a new road in the Bolivian Amazon, reports the BBC. The 190-mile highway under construction in the Bolivian Amazon will pass through the Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory and National Park (Tipnis), a 4,600-square mile (11,900 square kilometers) preserve which boasts exceptional levels of rainforest biodiversity, including endangered blue macaws and fresh-water dolphins. Indigenous peoples who live in Tipnis are participating in a month-long protest march against the road, which they claim violates their right to self-governance.
NASA image shows it snowing in driest place on earth
(07/20/2011) A snowstorm engulfed parts of the driest place on earth this month: the Atacama desert in South America. Images captured by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra Satellite show parts of the landscape covered in white.
How to save the Pantanal and increase profits for the cattle industry
(03/28/2011) The Pantanal spanning Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay is the world's largest wetland—the size of Florida—and home to a wide-variety of charismatic species, such as jaguars, capybaras, and giant anteaters. However, the great wetland is threatened by expansion in big agriculture and an increasingly intensive cattle industry. Yet there is hope: a new study by Wildlife Conservation Society of Brazil (WCS-Brazil) researchers has found that cattle and the ecosystem can exist harmoniously. By replacing current practices with rotational grazing, cattle ranchers gain a healthier herd and more profits while safeguarding the ecological integrity and wildlife of the world's largest wetland system. The study published in mongabay.com's open access journal Tropical Conservation Science is a rare instance of a win-win situation.
New plan underway to save South America's migratory grassland birds
(12/28/2010) A meeting between government representatives, scientists, and conservationists in Asuncion, Paraguay this month resulted in the adoption of an action plan to provide urgently needed conservation framework for the migratory birds of South America's disappearing grasslands.
Climate change could cut premontane forests of Argentina and Bolivia in half
(12/19/2010) A new study in mongabay.com's open access journal Tropical Conservation Science finds that the premontane forests of Argentina and Bolivia are susceptible to large-scale shifts due to climate change, losing over half of the ecosystem to warmer temperatures. Apart of the Yungas tropical forests, premontane forests are the lowest in the Andes, covering hills and flatland; these forests harbor significant biodiversity, yet many of those species may become threatened as the world warms.
Record number of nations hit all time temperature highs
(11/23/2010) To date, nineteen nations have hit or matched record high temperatures this year, according to Jeff Master's Wunder Blog, making 2010 the only year to have so many national records. In contrast, no nation this year has hit a record cold temperature.
Cancún Climate Summit: Time for a New Geopolitical Architecture
(11/22/2010) As we approach crucial climate change negotiations in Cancún, Mexico the key question on many people’s minds is this: what nation or nations will have the courage to stand up to the United States, which still represents the key obstacle to a binding agreement on global warming? If it looked unlikely that the U.S. would reduce carbon emissions before, the recent midterm elections have made such a possibility seem even more remote: many incoming Republican legislators simply deny that global warming exists.
Evo Morales for the Nobel Prize?
(11/11/2010) Does Evo Morales merit a Nobel peace prize for his admirable work on climate justice? Former prize winners, as well as the Bolivian Congress, believe he deserves it and both have launched an international campaign on behalf of Bolivia’s indigenous president. In April of this year, Morales helped to organize the First World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, which drew a whopping 35,000 people to the Bolivian city of Cochabamba. Designed as a kind of counter summit to the official Copenhagen conference of 2009, which proved a debacle in terms of reining in climate change, Cochabamba represented a milestone in social mobilization.
Eight new plants discovered in Bolivia
(11/07/2010) Researchers have described eight new species of plant from in and near Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Andes. Described in the journal Novon by botanists with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the National Herbaium in Laz Paz, Bolivia, seven of the eight plants were found as apart of the Proyecto Madidi (Project Madidi), a ten year effort to describe the plant species of three inter-connecting protected areas in Bolivia—Madidi National Park, Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Communal Lands, and Apolobamba Integrated Management Natural Area.
Life shocker: new species discovered every three days in the Amazon
(10/26/2010) A new report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) confirms the Amazon rainforest, even as it is shrinking due to deforestation, remains among the world's most surprising places. According to the report, Amazon Alive, over the past decade (1999-2009) researchers have found 1,200 new species in the Amazon: one new species for every three days. Not surprisingly invertebrates, including insects, made up the bulk of new discoveries. But no type of species was left out: from 1999-2009 researchers discovered 637 new plants, 357 fish, 216 amphibians, 55 reptiles, 39 mammals, and 16 new birds. In new discoveries over the past decade, the Amazon has beaten out a number of high-biodiversity contenders including Borneo, the Eastern Himalayas, and the Congo rainforest.
NASA: surge in Amazon fires
(08/31/2010) The number of fire hotspots has surged in the Bolivian and Brazilian parts of the Amazon, reveals data and imagery from NASA.
Cold snap may have killed millions of fish in Bolivia, poisoning rivers
(08/31/2010) Although the last few months have been some of the warmest worldwide on record, including 17 countries reaching or breaking all-time highs, temperatures have not been above average everywhere. Cold air from Antarctica has brought chilling temperatures to parts of South America, including Bolivia where millions of fish and thousands of caimans, turtles, and river dolphins have perished according to Nature Communications.
146 dams threaten Amazon basin
(08/19/2010) Although developers and government often tout dams as environmentally-friendly energy sources, this is not always the case. Dams impact river flows, changing ecosystems indefinitely; they may flood large areas forcing people and wildlife to move; and in the tropics they can also become massive source of greenhouse gases due to emissions of methane. Despite these concerns, the Amazon basin—the world's largest tropical rainforest—is being seen as prime development for hydropower projects. Currently five nations—Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru—are planning over 146 big dams in the Amazon Basin. Some of these dams would flood pristine rainforests, others threaten indigenous people, and all would change the Amazonian ecosystem. Now a new website, Dams in Amazonia, outlines the sites and impacts of these dams with an interactive map.
Photos: researchers uncover top priority areas for Bolivian primates
(06/28/2010) Employing a predictive model, researchers have located two areas in need of protection to ensure the survival of Bolivia's primate species. The study, published in Tropical Conservation Science, identified the potential distribution of Bolivia's 22 primates and discovered two priority regions, one in the Pando Department with a number of rare primates, and the other in Western Beni, home to two primate species that live no-where else.
Alternative Climate Summit, Machu Picchu, and El Niño: Destroyer of Civilizations
(04/23/2010) As an alternative climate summit gets underway in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, many in the Andean region are wondering how they will cope with El Niño, a cyclical meteorological phenomenon in which Pacific surface temperatures rise and have repercussions on weather around the world. El Niño takes place irregularly about every two to seven years and lasts from twelve to eighteen months.
Suggested reading - Books
Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]
Other resources
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Last updated: 6 Feb 2006
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