| Fast Facts |
location
between the cities of Santa Cruz and Cochabamba
ecoregions
Bolivian Yungas, Southwestern Amazonian Moist Forest, Central Andean Puna
project size
3.1 million acres
public lands
Amboró and Carrasco national parks
partners
Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza, Centro Integrado para la Defensa Ecologica y el Desarrollo Rural, Fundación para el Turismo y Desarrollo de la Mancomunidad Sara e Ichilo, Asociación Ecologica del Oriente, Servicio Nacional de Areas Protegidas | |
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| Time seems to disappear in this little-known jungle, where it is still possible to experience virgin rain forest like that which sustained the Incas centuries ago. |
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Amboró National Park.
© Luiz Claudio Marigo/Peter Arnold, Inc. |
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Few adventurers come to Bolivia looking for rain forest. Those who do, however, are rewarded by Amboró and Carrasco national parks, 3 million acres of true mythic jungle.
The two contiguous parks span evergreen and cloud forests, high-alpine grasslands, whitewater rivers and dramatic waterfalls. They encompass pure, spring-fed streams and some of the last virgin rain forest on Earth. The rich, humid region, bordered by the cities of Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, known as the “Valley of the Eternal Spring,” has sustained indigenous communities for centuries. Mysterious ruins and ceremonial grounds near the city of Samaipata hint at the religious life of the Incas and other cultures before them to reveal a long history of pre-Columbian settlement. |
Andean cock-of-the-rock.
© Kevin Schafer
/kevinschafer.com |
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The landscape bursts with color, noise and life. Shrill-voiced toucans announce the day, jaguars prowl the forest, and howler and capuchin monkeys swing from the trees. Ground-feeding birds like horned curassows hunt for food on the forest floor, while vibrant cock-of-the-rock soar above. Brilliant native orchids of every size, shape and color imaginable illuminate a lush sea of green; ferns abound, some even sporting leaves large enough to shelter a human. The ancient puya raimondii, the world’s largest bromeliad, bursts into bloom once every 80 to 100 years, then dies. | |
Large rural communities live in and around the parks and subsist on the natural bounty. However, activities like logging, hunting, fishing and agriculture sometimes encroach on park boundaries. To meet the needs of local people and still keep this pristine wilderness intact, The Nature Conservancy began working in Amboró and Carrasco national parks in 2002, as part of the Parks in Peril program with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Our aim is to improve the parks’ management and enforcement of park regulations, increase awareness of the parks’ benefits, promote non-destructive activities such as ecotourism, and work with local communities to develop more sustainable approaches to natural resource use.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Bolivia. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
endemic orchids, spectacled bear, horned currassow, cock-of-the-rock, jaguar, capybara, howler and capuchin monkeys, puya raimondii, mahogany; puna, páramo and Bolivian yungas communities
stresses
colonization, road-building, illegal logging, grazing, hunting, mining and oil exploration
strategies
promote ecotourism, promote ecologically compatible land-use practices, strengthen local partner organizations, engage community in natural resource management
results
hired park guards; helped create new methods of collaboration among public and private institutions working in both parks | | | | |
