On World Wildlife Day, El Pais interviewed biologist and researcher Vicent Vos and Alex Villca, park ranger, expert in Tourism Management and co-founder of the Coordinator for the Defense of Protected Areas. They urged “productive alternatives (such as Amazonian fruits, ecotourism, fish farming, integrated forest management, agroforestry, ecological agriculture, etc.) that allow us to generate an economy without destroying our natural resources” as well as “repeal of certain laws and decrees that are considered threatening to the environment and mainly to wildlife, such as the laws of burns and chaqueos and the approval of the use of transgenics.”
The 2020 report of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), “establishes that Latin America is the region most affected by the reduction of wildlife (mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles). According to this report, these species have been reduced by 94% between 1970 and 2016 in the region.”
According to Alex Villca: “In recent years, as a result of the approval of a set of pro-agribusiness regulations and expansive livestock farming, Bolivians have lost incalculable and unique forests on the planet, as is the case of the Chiquitano dry forest, which is also a dwelling of ancient indigenous peoples such as the Ayoreos, where sadly millions of wild species have been incinerated, from the smallest (microorganisms) to the largest trees and mammals (flora and fauna) ” Added to all this is the increase in wildlife trafficking, such as the Jaguar tusks, “which has increased especially since the arrival of Chinese citizens in our country. With such an accelerated pace and colossal magnitude of destruction of terrestrial habitats and ecosystems, the lives of millions of wild species and the lives of indigenous peoples are in serious danger of extinction, ”
Vincent Vos agreed that “Unfortunately there is not much to celebrate in Bolivia. 'Development' trends mean that more wildlife is being lost in the country than ever. Policies in favor of the deepening of the extractivist model and the expansion of the agricultural frontier have helped to position Bolivia as one of the countries with the highest rates of deforestation and with the fires of recent years we have lost more wooded areas than ever.”