August 15, 2024, 10:56 PM
August 15, 2024, 10:56 PM
Following the recent issuance of Supreme Decree 5202 by the Government of Luis Arce, “which takes over El Choré, turning it from a Forest Reserve into a Protected Area,” national deputy María René Álvarez demanded that the acting governor of Santa Cruz, Mario Aguilera, urgently call a meeting of the Departmental Agrarian Commission (CAD), in order to protect this territory of Santa Cruz.
“I demand that the acting governor defend this Forest Reserve, and that no further territory be ceded to centralism and to the oppressors who will now have carte blanche to continue acting illegally in El Choré,” he said.
Through the CAD, as a departmental institution, the deputy requests that all mechanisms be activated so that this decree, which affects thousands of hectares within El Choré, is repealed immediately.
DS 5202 published in the Official Gazette on August 14, aims to “declare the “El Choré” Forest Reserve as a Protected Area in the categories of National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area” (ANMI).
With this measure, the legislator from Santa Cruz warns that while, on the one hand, all human habitat and extractive activities are prohibited in a national park, on the other, sustainable use as ANMI is permitted, which is one of the mechanisms used by the invaders to illegally appropriate the lands.
“This action can seriously affect the environment through uncontrolled exploitation of resources, deforestation and the alteration of ecosystems that threaten biodiversity and environmental services.
They do not care about the conservation of our forests or water reserves, they want to dispossess private property and relegate the native people of the place,” he added.
Álvarez says that the land grab plan, promoted since the MAS began to govern, has now moved on to the phase of taking over protected areas, not only in Santa Cruz but throughout the country.
In this context, he asked that the acting governor begin to defend the interests of the people of Santa Cruz.
In the CAD, said Alvarez, the rejection of the recent bill approved by the Planning Committee of the House of Representatives, to access a credit of 40 million dollars in favor of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA), under the excuse of “completing the sanitation of lands” should also be raised.
“This loan to the INRA is not transparent and we know that in September the Government will issue property titles, surely to legalize the invaders, and all the authorities of Santa Cruz must begin to emerge from their lethargy in the face of this emergency,” he concluded.
Tierra Foundation researcher Gonzalo Colque said that this change to a protected area is done to avoid drawing too much attention by directly cutting back on the forest reserve, modifying its boundaries, or basically eliminating it.
“They have found ways to issue a decree that is quite misleading, in the sense that they do not talk about the forest reserve, they do not talk about cuts, they do not talk about quantification of limits, but rather they take the entire park and turn it into a protected area, declaring the core zone, and three intervention zones and with authorizations. So, that also shows in a conclusive way that there is an agreement, there is a political agreement with the intercultural groups,” he said.
