Biodiverse Bolivia

Photo: Daniel Alarcón - Ardea cocoi

Bolivia has 12 ecoregions (with several sub-ecoregions) and hundreds of ecosystems. Some of these ecosystems are of particular value and importance for conservation as they are centers of biological diversity and endemism or because of their condition or the degree to which they are under threat. The Amazon rain forests and the Upper Andean forests are among these ecosystems, for example.

Given this wealth, in the international context Bolivia is considered a “megadiverse” country. It is located among the top ten with the greatest wealth of vertebrate species. It possibly occupies fourth place in the work among countries with the greatest number of butterflies. It is also among the ten countries with the greatest diversity of birds and mammals, among the top eleven in greatest diversity of sweet water fish, and among the top thirteen in species of amphibians and tiger beetles.

This ample array of biological resources that are unique in the world is currently under threat and at risk of disappearing due to various factors relating to demographic pressure because of the destruction of habitats, as a consequence of deforestation, war, and contamination, and because biodiversity is being used beyond its capacity to produce.

The selective extraction of species, illegal hunting, and the loss of genetic variability at the agro-biodiverse level due to replacement by local introduced varieties and species are other determining factors in this crisis.

The Amazon basin zones are rich in species, highly resilient, dynamic and characterized by species of ample distribution. On the other hand, some Andean zones are home to species of restricted distribution, partially coinciding with areas of high human pressure, especially in zones that are in transition in the high areas and central valleys.

The ecoregions which throughout history have suffered the greatest impacts are Puna and the Inter-Andean Dry Forests. Due to their bio-geographic importance, fragility and potential, the most intact ecosystems are priorities for conservation, especially those that are large such as the lowland forests and the Northeastern springs, the large intact ecosystems related to hydro-climactic processes such as the Yungas rain forests and the Southwest Amazon region, centers rich in species and endemism such as the Yungas, the Sub-Andean Amazon Forests and the Inter-Andean Dry Forests, centers of diversity of wildlife species of crops, and biological corridors.

Although it is more important to identify priorities at the ecoregion and ecosystem levels, in order to detect threats that affect a great number of resources it is also necessary to consider particular threatened species. Currently there are several species of flora and fauna under various categories of threat. Likewise, many wildlife “relatives” of domesticated species are in uncertain situations in terms of conservation. Finally, the situation in key genetic resource conservation areas in situ is little known, and not taken into consideration by policies and norms.