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The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

Bolivia: Places We Protect

 

Sama Biological Reserve.

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With your help, we can protect places around the world like Bolivia's Sama Cordillera Biological Reserve.

PROMETA

The Conservancy’s local partner PROMETA is gradually replacing sheep with llamas and alpacas so as to reach a balance that is economically beneficial for the local communities, and kinder to nature.

Alpaca

Llamas and alpacas have less impact on the landscape than sheep because they don't each the roots of plants on which they graze and their droppings are very fertile. They also have soft pads on the bottoms of their feet that don't disturb or damage the plants on which they tread. Llamas are the smart economic choice, too: the economic value of one llama is equal to approximately six sheep.

Sama Biological Reserve.

The Sama Cordillera Biological Reserve in Bolivia includes some of the most ancient mountains in the Andes.

Location. The Sama Cordillera Biological Reserve is located in the southern extreme of Bolivia near the Argentine border. Part of the reserve lies at altitudes of over 10,000 feet in the harsh, arid highlands, while the rest of the reserve runs down through the lush forests and rushing rivers of the Inter-Andean Valley. This valley region is known as the wine capital of Bolivia and also stages the country's gas and oil production.

Animals. Andean mountain cats, vicuñas (a wild relative of the llama and alpaca), pumas, and Andean foxes are some of the mammals that are able to survive on the high arid plains, while at least 150 bird species, including endangered Andean condors, thrive in the abundant lakes, rivers and native forests of the valley.

The wetlands and salty lakes are home to 34 species of Andean water birds, including horned coots, Andean geese and three of the world's six types of flamingos They also are wintering grounds for migratory species that fly between the northern and southern hemispheres, such as golden plovers, lesser yellowlegs, Wilson's phalaropes and Baird's sandpipers.

Plants. The quewiña tree manages to gracefully thrive on the harsh, arid high plains of Sama Cordillera Biological Reserve. Protective layers of reddish bark insulate it from the cold and from ultra-violet radiation, making it the only native tree to grow above 10,000 feet.

Other native plant species such as quiswara, aliso and yareta are capable of surviving in such high, cold and dry environments, and the prickly paja brava grass stubbornly clings to the reserve's sand dunes.

Why The Nature Conservancy Works Here

Poor cattle and sheep grazing practices, damming of rivers to supply electrical power and the cutting of quewiña trees for firewood are taking their toll on the region, and logging and burning of  forests to clear land for farming are destroying critical animal habitats.Once trees are removed, riverbanks erode and waterways become choked with soil. This limits food and water access for wildlife and communities downstream.

Tarija, a city of 145,000 near the Sama Cordillera Biological Reserve, gets 75% of its water and 45% of its electricity from Andean creeks and rivers and is now in danger of running out of water. Irrigated fields, various industries, and over 170,000 people rely on the 24 waterways that originate within the reserve, but uncontrolled logging, ranching, overgrazing, and forest and prairie fires cause continuous drops in the area's water supply.

What the Conservancy is Doing

The Conservancy has been working with local partner PROMETA with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)  to pursue an integral approach that addresses the issue of watershed protection and the sustainable management of water resources through:
 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Conservation and Protection Programs. The Conservancy and PROMETA are engaging park guards, local communities, and governmental organizations in conservation area planning, small scale reforestation, the promotion of camelid (llamas, alpacas) livestock farming, research and monitoring, and the formation and training of fire prevention and vigilance brigades.
  • An environmental education campaign that informs and engages local residents of organized, economically viable ways to conserve water and stop the destruction of vital watersheds in the Sama Cordillera Biological Reserve.
  • Forging alliances that can help meet the challenges facing the long term water supply of Tarija and persuade public policy-makers, water managers and consumers to rethink the ways water resources are managed and used. The project has helped create and is in the process of consolidating an inter-institutional forum called PROAGUA (Forum for the Conservation of the City of Tarija’s Water Sources).PROAGUA provides a space for different institutions, including civil society and local government, to coordinate and promote conservation and water management activities that will ensure the long term future of Tarija’s water supply.

 

Good news! The protection program and educational campaign have already changed local attitudes and actions. The people of Tarija are now more aware of how they use water, and the town instantly mobilizes into action to respond to fires within the reserve.

 

The Sama Reserve project is one of a number of projects that form part of The Conservancy’s Parks in Peril multi-site program which receives financial support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and seeks to strengthen conservation efforts in parks and protected areas at the local and system wide level, working with civil society organizations, private landowners as well as local and national governmental bodies

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): ©Steffen Reichle/TNC (church in Sama Biological Reserve);© Anna Gibson/TNC (Flowers growing in the Sama Biological Reserve); © PROMETA (Alpaca).