Bolivian Amazon: between Debt, the Climate Crisis, and Extractivism

Bolivia is the country with the highest percentage of its territory within the Amazon basin. Based on data in the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (OTCA for its Spanish acronym), the Amazonian territory of Bolivia covers an area of 824 000 km2, which represents 75 % of the national territory and 11.20 % of the entire continental Amazon basin.

Descripción

According to projections for 2022 (INE)2, this region has a population of 1 790 201 inhabitants (including various Indigenous peoples and communities) and 88 municipalities across 5 departments (Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, La Paz, and Cochabamba). In the Bolivian Amazon, there are approximately 29 Indigenous peoples with a population of over 200 000 inhabitants, as mentioned earlier.

The Amazon rainforest is recognized as a reserve of ecological services not only for Indigenous peoples and local communities but also for the rest of the world. It is the only tropical forest of its size and diversity and is crucial for its wealth of water and biological resources, its role in the global climate system, and its ethnic and cultural diversity.

Publication date: August 27th, 2024