On July 31, Los Tiempos reported that “the coronavirus pandemic has accentuated the crisis that for more than a decade has placed protected areas under extreme threat on a national scale.”
“According to a detailed report on the situation of the Madidi, Kaa Iya, Iñao and Otuquis parks and the Pilón Lajas, Manuripi and Eduardo Avaroa reserves to which Cabildeo Digital had access, during the health crisis the illegal incursions did not stop, the drug trafficking activities , the indiscriminate burning and the intensive exploitation of natural resources, in the midst of a management by the National Service of Protected Areas (Sernap) that cut budgets, left unpaid bonuses and salaries and dismissed key officials even from the prohibition due to the health crisis.
Alex Villca, spokesperson for the National Coordinator of Native Peasant Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas (Contiocap) assured that “Among all the threats that lie in wait for our territories, such as the construction of dams, oil exploration, illegal mining, the opening of roads and new settlements, one of the greatest dangers is the expansion of illegal coca plantations for drug trafficking. "
German Góngora, president of the Manuripi National Reserve Management Committee, added that “unfortunately in a pandemic, these risks have been accentuated by the total state abandonment” and an erratic management of the Sernap that does not differ from the dynamics imposed during the 14 years of government of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) period in which the Protected Areas "miraculously survived, by the impulse of the park rangers and the management committees of indigenous peoples".
Cabildeo Digital tried to contact the director of the Sernap, Maikol Melgar, and verified that for several weeks he has not been attending his offices in La Paz and that he has withdrawn to Santa Cruz, where he lived before assuming that position.
Economic crisis, drug trafficking and extractivism
The pandemic has disrupted the economy of the inhabitants of the protected areas.” Due to closure of all tourist activities in Madidi and Pilón Lajas. Villca recalled that "a large part of the resources for financial sustainability came from the visitor collection system (Sisco), which generated, on average, 1.2 million Bolivians per year, but due to the pandemic, these resources are not being generated", and regretted that "the most biodiverse tourist destination, which in February received international certification as a sustainable world destination, does not have the necessary impetus from either the central government or the municipalities. People suffer the impacts, many guides, cooks, motorists, drivers of the communities have been left without a job, they have to look for other forms of survival and they increase hunting for the sustenance of families,And that impacts biodiversity.”
“But other problems also threaten the region. The risk of drug trafficking is one of them…the park rangers confided to Cabildeo Digital that "the drug trafficking route enters the Madidi national park, park ranger camps like the one in Colorado have been evacuated by threats from drug gangs, each time we are retreating due to the lack of state presence."
With the opening of roads, said Villca, mining is another of the strong threats: "the waters of the Beni river are totally contaminated, the contamination passes through Mapiri, Guanay, from the Kaka river, where the Chinese dredges are, it contaminates the areas protected ”.
Destiny changes and layoffs amid pandemic
“In Bolivia, this July 31, International Park Ranger Day, the more than 300 park rangers distributed in the 22 national parks and reserves of the country, do not have much to celebrate, on the contrary, they have many reasons to ensure that the balance is not very encouraging .
After several months of acephalia, the management positions of the Madidi National Park and the Pilón Lajas Reserve were appointed without merit competition and were entrusted to local businessmen with evident conflicts of interest. Although the Sernap ordered the withdrawal of a large part of the personnel and the closure of the parks and reserves to tourism, the latent threats in those territories forced the rangers to resume their activities, although their work was seriously affected by the lack of budget for operating expenses and the absence of police and military personnel to support control patrols.
Even though they did not stop working during the pandemic, many were dismissed, others were relocated and had to bear the costs of moving to their new operations centers.
According to the story of the park rangers, who asked Cabildeo Digital to keep their names confidential for fear of reprisals, "there is a situation of job insecurity and uncertainty about the future of the institution because, in the face of any claim, the authorities assure that collapse is imminent financial institution, although for new appointments have been set salaries above 16,000 Bolivians.”
“They reported that at least 70% of park rangers are temporary, in many cases for 10, 15 and 20 years, without any type of benefits or social benefits. "In the Madidi of 26 park rangers, only six are permanent personnel, 20 are temporary, and in Pilón Lajas, five, four are temporary," said Villca.”