Indigenous People and Conservation in Bolivia

Local People Manage a Critical Protected Area

Aug 9, 2008

In tropical Bolivia, indigenous people are taking charge of wildlife conservation and scoring key victories.

In 1995, the Isoceño Guaraní of eastern Bolivia successfully lobbied for the creation of Kaa-Iya National Park. This became not only one of the first protected areas in the Americas established by the initiative of an indigenous people, but also the largest expanse of protected dry tropical forest in the world. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the park may contain the world’s most sizable jaguar population in a protected area. The combined area of the park and the indigenous territory of the Isoceños approximates the size of Costa Rica.

The establishment of Kaa-Iya reflects a growing worldwide trend whereby local people, and particularly indigenous groups, are slowly wresting control of wildlife conservation out of the hands of Western scientists, multinational organizations and state institutions. It also represents a stark contrast to the creation of parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, when U.S. troops forcibly removed indigenous populations to keep the natural setting “pristine”.

While the Isoceño Guaraní manage Kaa-Iya, they count on technical assistance from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society. In fact, the traditional beliefs of the Isoceño-Guaraní are not incompatible with the beliefs of conservationists. For instance, “Kaa-Iya” means “spirit guardian” in Guaraní. There is a kaa-iya who protects each kind of animal, and would-be hunters must pray to the kaa-iya and gain its permission before seeking prey. To injure an animal without killing it, or to take more than is necessary, is considered a serious transgression.

Yet there is also a practical basis for the collaboration between the Isoceño-Guaraní and the WCS. The Isoceños’ indigenous territory faces significant threats of encroachment from ranchers, large-scale commercial agriculture operations owned by Mennonite colonists, and oil-gas enterprises. These same actors are perceived as threats to biodiversity in the region by the WCS (Arambiza and Painter 2006:23). The park provides a territorial buffer for the Isoceños and helps ensure they will have a plentiful supply of game and resources. For its part, the WCS provides training on how to sustainably manage and monitor natural resources and wildlife populations, both in the park and in the Isoceños’ indigenous territory.

In 1997, Bolivia’s government declared it a matter of national security to build a gas pipeline to Brazil – right through Isoceño territory and the Kaa-Iya National Park. However, the Isoceños halted construction of the pipeline and insisted on negotiations with the Bolivian government and the Brazilian gas company. While the pipeline could not be stopped altogether, the Isoceños were at least able to minimize environmental impacts, maintain recognition of their territory and obtain a share of the pipeline revenue for use in managing the park. It thus signaled a victory both from the standpoint of indigenous rights and from a conservation perspective. In fact, these funds allowed the Isoceños to keep Kaa-Iya operating from 1998-2000, when the Bolivian government experienced a fiscal crisis and was unable to finance park operations.

Unfortunately, the Yellowstone or “fortress” model of conservation – removing local people from protected areas – still remains very much alive, and millions of indigenous people have lost access to territory throughout the world in the name of conservation. They are often left with little choice but to become poachers or squatters. However, cases like Kaa-Iya suggest that alliances between conservationists and indigenous people are likely to be a much more viable long-term solution for protecting the world’s wildlife.

Sources

Arambiza, Evelio and Painter, Michael. Biodiversity, Conservation and the Quality of Life of Indigenous People in the Bolivian Chaco. Human Organization 65(1), 2006:20-34.

Colchester, Marcus. Indigenous Peoples and the new ‘Global Vision’ on Forests. World Bank discussion paper, 1999.

Painter, Michael and Redford, Kent. Natural Alliances Between Conservationists and Indigenous Peoples. Wildlife Conservation Society Working Paper 25, 2005.

The copyright of the article Indigenous People and Conservation in Bolivia in Latin Am/Caribbean Affairs is owned by Colin Forsyth. Permission to republish Indigenous People and Conservation in Bolivia in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.