Mongobay provides a discussion of the importance of biological corridors in Bolivia in this Spanish-language article. “The purpose of a biological corridor is to maintain the functional continuity of ecosystems and a way of maintaining the provision of environmental services. No protected natural area can be considered an island, ”says Daniel Villaroel, Deputy Manager of Projects at the Fundación Amigos por la Naturaleza (FAN) of Bolivia. In Bolivia there is no legal figure that establishes conservation corridors.”
“In 2020, the San Matías Integrated Management Natural Area, the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, the Madidi National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area and the Otuquis National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area were among the most devastated by forest fires. . All of them, in addition, are considered within biological conservation corridors. “With the rate of deforestation in Bolivia, there is a tendency for protected natural areas to remain as islands. In the future, this does not guarantee the viability of conservation, ”Cometa Villaroel. The FAN expert adds that the most worrying thing in the case of fires is the change in land use that occurs in the intermediate zones between protected areas.”
“One of the corridors that marked an era due to international relations that they signified was the Amboró-Vilcabamba Conservation Corridor," says Villaroel from FAN. The specialist points out that this corridor covers a large extension of protected areas in Bolivia and Peru that includes the Great Madidi-Tambopata Landscape. The Amboró-Vilcabamba corridor is part of the Tropical Andes hotspot , which stretches from the Vilcabamba mountain range in Peru to the Amboró National Park in Bolivia and is made up of a chain of 19 protected areas with mountainous forests and tropical plains. Villaroel also explains that this 30 million hectare corridor was aimed at guaranteeing the water supply. He adds that the Great Madidi Tambopata Landscape emerged within the corridor, since it included these conservation units. «This corridor was left in the nebula. The lack of investment had a lot of influence, "says Villaroel about the lack of continuity in the protection of Amboró-Vilcabamba. Of that project, the Great Madidi-Tambopata Landscape has been the sector that has been best maintained, says the FAN representative.”