WWF's work in Bolivia

WWF began working in selected areas of Bolivia in 1970. Since then, it has been supporting the creation and the effective management of protected areas, promoting forest certification, protecting watersheds, and developing campaigns to promote the value of the environment.

Currently, in Bolivia WWF is managing 3 programmes, 2 in the global priority ecoregions Amazon and Pantanal, and 1 thematic programme - the Forest Programme.

1. AMAZON PROGRAMME
The main objective of this programme is to maintain blocks of forest in the Amazon. The programme takes into consideration the variability of the landscape units, connectivity, and forest coverage in such a way that it guarantees the conservation and continuity of these blocks of forests. The programme focuses on the following 3 areas where it works toward planning for the management and conservation of natural resources:

• Amboro - Madidi Corridor (CAM)
• Amazon forest in Pando
• Itenez - Mamore bi-national Corridor (CIM)

Main achievements

• Support the creation of protected areas: With interventions in the Departmental Park and Natural Area of Integrated Management Iténez, Beni, supporting local efforts for the categorization of the area and its respective approval on behalf of national authorities; supporting identification studies and creation of the Departmental Park and Natural Area of Integrated Management (PD ANMI) Altamachi, Cochabamba, an initiative which later had to be modified due to local pressure; support for the creation of a protected area in the Federico Roman Province, initially created in August 2005 as the Bruno Racua Natural Wildlife Reserve.
  
• Support in the management and effective functioning of protected areas, through management plans, staff training, infrastructure (camps, interpretation trails and signs), equipment, funds for operational expenses, research and others. This type of support has been provided in such protected areas as Manuripi, Amboró, Carrasco, Noel Kempff, Iténez and Altamachi.
  
• Support in the protected areas’ relationship with its surrounding area through educational programmes that include the construction and equipping of the PN ANMI Amboró Interpretation Center which is co-administered by the National Protected Area Service (SERNAP) and the municipality of Buena Vista.
  
• Support in carrying out participatory and coordinated research with authorities seeking better management of natural resources. The Conservation Plan for the Amboró-Madidi Corridor can be highlighted, which was jointly carried out with TNC, CI, Friends of Nature Foundation (FAN) and in consultation with the General Biodiversity Direction (DGB) and SERNAP, the Rapid Assessment and Priorization of Protected Areas’ Management (RAPPAM), a study carried out in coordination with SERNAP and authorities in each protected area to evaluate the development status of the National System for Protected Areas (SNAP).
  
• Development of inter-institutional coordination entities and with authorities such as the CAM Coordination Committee (CCCAM) and the events and border committees, carried out and created to promote coordination between environmental authorities and inhabitants in Bolivia and Brazil in the Iténez – Mamoré Corridor (CIM).
  
• Support in the development and implementation of natural resource management plans in several protected areas and surrounding areas, highlighting plans developed for fishing, wood and tourism, as well as specific studies on other resources such as cacao.
  
• Implementation of communication and education processes aiming to provide information as a key tool for responsible and long lasting development for the region.
  
• Compiling and systematization of spatial information in the ecoregion; exchange with Brazil and Peru in order to optimize planning and decision making focused on an ecoregional vision.
  

2. PANTANAL PROGRAMME
The main objective of the Pantanal Conservation programme is to maintain the good conservation status of one of the world's largest and best-conserved wetlands, the Pantanal, through the promotion of the sustainable use of natural resources, aiming to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants.

The programme seeks to accomplish its main objective through: 1) the management of the protected areas, 2) sustainability regarding land use change development activities generating information and education processes to strengthen local stakeholders' capacities as well as creating awareness of the region's inhabitants, 3) support to sustainable practices related to productive activities such as cattle ranching, tourism and fishing, and 4) species conservation, specifically the giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis).

Main achievements

• Creation, management and institutional strengthening of 2 protected areas: San Matías and Otuquis, positioning them as agents to channel funds that directly contribute to the generation of capacities and opportunities for the communities located within and around these areas.

• Formation of 57 environmental promoters within the protected areas that are currently leaders in sustainable development initiatives.
  
• Declaration of Ramsar Site (3 million ha), recognizing the international importance of the Bolivian Pantanal.
  
• Implementation of communications and education processes aiming to use information as a key tool in the responsible and long lasting development of the region.
  
• Identification and priority setting of ecosystems and species, sub watershed and watersheds of the hydrographic watershed of the Paraguay River becoming technical planning and management instruments for natural resource conservation that is now used and is needed in the future as well.
  
• Recollection and systematization of spatial information of the ecoregion; exchange with Brazil and Paraguay in order to optimize planning and decision making in terms of a trans-boundary vision.
  
• Analysis of the frequency and impacts of fire in the ecoregion with emphasis on protected areas.
  
• Development, validation and implementation of a Pantanal educational curriculum allowing for future generations to acquire a positive attitude towards sustainable development. Approval on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
  
• Permanent implementation of educational activities on behalf of the Pantanal Otuquis Children’s Club (radio programme Pantanal Mágico, collectable sticker album among others).
  
• Training for teachers in educational techniques to support teaching skills and using the Audubon’s Schoolyard Ecology Education Initiative.
  
• Development of a tourism strategy for each municipality aiming to promote tourism in the region that will also generate income and improve the quality of life of the local population.
  
• The "Puerto Busch Study: Options for the location of a sovereign port for on the Paraguay-Paraná River System”, as a contribution in support of decision making regarding the development hub in south-eastern Bolivia.
  
• Conformation and strengthening of 3 participatory municipal forums for planning and local development: the Local Economic Development Committees (referred to in Bolivia as CODEL) in each municipality.

3. FOREST PROGRAMME
Seeking to support the management and sustainable forest trade and certification, WWF Bolivia is working to strengthen indigenous communities’ capacities for responsible management and trade, seeking also to promote a national preferential demand for wood from well managed forests, links between communities and companies, and the use of forest certification criteria as a planning tool to improve forest management. The geographic area of these actions is the Amazon and the Dry Chiquitano Forest.

Main Achievements:

• Support for more than 25 community forest operations, distributed in 7 countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala and México).
  
• 10 certified communities under the FSC including the certification of the Yuqui-CIRI indigenous communal land (TCO) in Bolivia.
  
• Support for the certification of approximately 2 million ha of forests under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme. Bolivia has the greatest extension of natural tropical forests certified worldwide (under the FSC), and which was declared a Gift to the Earth in 2002.
  
• Various publications ranging from books on biodiversity in specific forest areas to training and dissemination texts.
  
• Creation of the Bolivia Forest and Trade Network (FTN).
  
• 6 member companies of the Bolivia FTN, including a community forest enterprise.
  
• Awareness of approximately 100,000 individuals in Bolivia on forest conservation, forest management and responsible purchases of forest products through a massive, innovative educational camping known as Un Árbol Bolivia, under which the 1st International Sculptors' Workshop was held.
  
• Signing of an agreement between WWF and the Municipal Government of the City of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, under which the latter commits to assuming a responsible purchasing policy for forest products. It has also declared itself as the world capital of certified native tropical forests.

Contributions to other environmental achievements in Bolivia

• Increase in the scientific knowledge regarding the biodiversity of the Southwest Amazon Moist Forests and Pantanal.
  
• Support for the creation of protected areas in Bolivia.
  
• The recognition of 4.7 million ha of freshwater wetlands as Ramsar sites and as a Gift to the Earth.
  
• Promotion of voluntary forest certification under the FSC scheme and recognition to Bolivia for reaching the highest extension of natural tropical forests certified in the world.
  
• Communications campaigns to promote the value of the environment in Bolivia and highlight its threats.
  
• Support for the effective management of protected areas.
  
• Pilot study regarding the use of wildlife in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.