The Bolivian Rainforest
By Philip Chu & Aidan Donahue1. Map of the Study Area
Proportion of Amazon Rainforest in Bolivia
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/06/160171565/guess-whos-chopping-down-the-amazon-now
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
Bolivia is the 12th most bio-diverse country in the world with more than
2,000 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, as
well as over 17,000 species of plants. About 70% of Bolivia's land is part of the Amazon basin, and the Bolivian Amazon adds up to about 60 million hectares in total. Bolivia has 10 national parks. Including Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, over 11% of Bolivia land is environmentally protected. In 2005, Bolivia made news headlines when the Wildlife Conservation Society discovered a new species of titi monkey in one of the country's protected areas.
The Bolivian Gray Titi Monkey (discovered in 2005)
http://www.lpzoo.org/animals/factsheet/bolivian-gray-titi-monkey
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
2. Map of Ecosystem as of 2010
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Historically, the Bolivia rainforest had a relatively low deforestation rate, close to 0.2% every year. Several factors account for this low deforestation rate. First, the lowland parts of Bolivia were historically neglected by the government and underdeveloped. Second, the government was too poor to to subsidize forest developers with infrastructure necessary for logging. Third, the demand for timber was historically weak within Bolivia, and the export market was virtually non-existent. In addition, foreign pressure also prompted the Bolivian government to protect some of the country's rainforests. For example, in 1996 the United States and the Bolivian government agreed to protect 880,000 hectares of rainforest in its Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. This agreement aimed not only to promote sustainable development, but also to reduce greenhouse gas emission.
4. Current Human Impacts on the Ecosystem
Since the 1990s, the deforestation rate of the Bolivian rainforest has more than doubled. This is due to several factors. First, the government granted twenty million hectares of rainforests to timber companies for economic reasons. Second, huge portions of rainforests were used for growing soybean and coca. Third, many timber companies bypassed government restrictions on sustainable development, and they ignored laws that required them to replant trees after cutting them down. Fourth, although there was not a mature export market, some logging companies illegally smuggled timber into Brazil, where the timber was highly demanded and used as Brazilian wood.
Main Causes of Deforestation from 1990s to 2000s
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0812-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-2.html#sthash.TocT41Zj.5NmXajty.dpbs
As shown in the above picture, major threats to the Bolivian rainforest include commercial and subsistence agriculture, as well as cattle ranching. Over the last ten years, mechanized and small-scale agriculture accounted for 29.7% and 18.4% of deforestation, respectively. However, the biggest driver of deforestation is cattle ranching, contributing to half of all deforestation between 2000 and 2010. In fact, Bolivia has one of the highest per capita deforestation rates in the world. A recent estimate reveals that every year, nearly 1,400 square miles are deforested within Bolivia.
Agriculture and cattle ranching are the biggest threats to Bolivian forest
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0812-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-2.html#sthash.TocT41Zj.5NmXajty.dpbs
5. Future Prospects for This Ecosystem
The future prospects for the Bolivian rainforest are not good. Most recently, in August 2014, the Bolivian Vice President announced the expansion of agricultural land to 2.5 times its present area by 2020. This announcement contradicts the environmental policies in Bolivia, because the required land would apparently come from restricted forested areas in Bolivia. Most of the deforestation will likely occur in the north and east of of Santa Cruz. In fact, as we show below, during 2000-2012 the majority of deforestation in Bolivia occurred in Santa Cruz.
Projected deforestation (as of 2040) due to agriculture and cattle ranching
6. What Can Be Done to Mitigate Human Impacts on Ecosystem
The future prospects for the Bolivian rainforest are not good. Most recently, in August 2014, the Bolivian Vice President announced the expansion of agricultural land to 2.5 times its present area by 2020. This announcement contradicts the environmental policies in Bolivia, because the required land would apparently come from restricted forested areas in Bolivia. Most of the deforestation will likely occur in the north and east of of Santa Cruz. In fact, as we show below, during 2000-2012 the majority of deforestation in Bolivia occurred in Santa Cruz.
Left: Map showing forest cover
Middle: Regions in Bolivia.
Right: Deforestation between 2000-2012
(Most deforestation can be observed within the city of
Santa Cruz)
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0812-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-2.html#sthash.TocT41Zj.DrgJMdNe.dpbs
Projected deforestation (as of 2040) due to agriculture and cattle ranching
Projected
deforestation (in yellow) assuming an expansion of 5 million hectares
as of 2040 - See more at:
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0812-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-2.html#sthash.TocT41Zj.DrgJMdNe.dpuf
Projected
deforestation (in yellow) assuming an expansion of 5 million hectares
as of 2040 - See more at:
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0812-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-2.html#sthash.TocT41Zj.DrgJMdNe.dpuf
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0812-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-2.html#sthash.TocT41Zj.DrgJMdNe.dpbs
6. What Can Be Done to Mitigate Human Impacts on Ecosystem
Several measures are required to mitigate human impacts and to preserve the remaining rainforest in Bolivia. First, pressure must be put on the Bolivian government to promote sustainable agriculture, as well as to limit the use of mechanized agriculture and cattle ranching in forest lands. Second, replantation of trees must be enforced on logging companies, as a huge portion of forest land in Bolivia will never grow back due to clear-cutting. Related to this point, the Bolivian government must dedicate more resource on law enforcement and environmental education. Third, efforts must be made to suppress forest fires, especially given the increasing instances of droughts within the Amazon Basin due to climate change.
7. Table/Graph with Supporting Data
http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0626-amazon-deforestation.html
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Forest loss trajectories per year according to data from the Global Forest Watch
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0812-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-2.html#sthash.TocT41Zj.DrgJMdNe.dpbs
8. Works Cited
Textual/Journal Sources:
IBCE. 2014. Encuentro Agroindustrial Productivo. 22:14.
Killeen, T. J., A. Guerra, M. Calzada, L. Correa, V. Calderon, L. Soria, B. Quezada, and M. K. Steininger. 2008. Total historical land-use change in eastern Bolivia: Who, where, when, and how much? Ecology and Society 13(1): 36.
Müller, R.; Pacheco, P.; Montero, J.C. 2014. The context of deforestation and forest degradation in Bolivia: Drivers, agents and institutions. CIFOR Occasional Paper no. 108 Bogor, Indonesia.
Robert Müller R., Larrea-Alcázar D, Cuéllar S, Espinoza S 2014. Causas directas de la deforestación reciente (2000-2010) y modelado de dos escenarios futuros en las tierras bajas de Bolivia. Ecología en Bolivia 49(1): 20-34.
Müller, Robert, et al. 2011. Spatiotemporal modeling of the expansion of mechanized agriculture in the Bolivian lowland forests. Applied Geography 31.2: 631-640.
Pacheco, Pablo. 2006. Agricultural expansion and deforestation in lowland Bolivia: the import substitution versus the structural adjustment model. Land Use Policy 23.3: 205-225.
Internet Sources:
"Guess Who's Chopping Down The Amazon Now?" September 2012. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://www.npr.org/2012/09/06/160171565/guess-whos-chopping-down-the-amazon-now>
"Noel Kempff Mercado National Park." n.d. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://www.rutaverdebolivia.com/noel-kempff-mercado-national-park.php>
"Châu Mỹ: Bolivia – Vườn quốc gia Noel Kempff Mercado" 2000. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://disanthegioi.info/ArticleDetail.aspx?articleid=61080&sitepageid=276>
"Tropical Rainforests: Bolivia." n.d. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20bolivia.htm>
"BOLIVIA: Rainforest Road Will Have Environmental and Cultural Impacts." September 2011. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://www.ipsnews.net/2011/09/bolivia-rainforest-road-will-have-environmental-and-cultural-impacts>
"Bolivian vice president proposes unprecedented agricultural expansion (PART 1)." September 2014. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0910-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-1.html#sthash.5tw86wRQ.dpbs>
"As Bolivia plans dramatic agro-expansion, forests may pay the price (PART II)." September 2014. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0812-gfrn-watsa-bolivia-ag-expansion-2.html#sthash.TocT41Zj.DrgJMdNe.dpbs>
"Deforestation rates for Amazon countries outside Brazil." June 2013. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0626-amazon-deforestation.html>
"Bolivian gray titi monkey." n.d. Accessed Oct 2, 2014. <http://www.lpzoo.org/animals/factsheet/bolivian-gray-titi-monkey>
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