July 29, 2024, 4:00 AM
July 29, 2024, 4:00 AM
The Bolivian Amazon is under attack. News about drug trafficking mafias and corruption in this area are often heard and make this area one of the most vulnerable. Illegal logging is linked to drug trafficking and there is also little attention from the State to combat other environmental crimes. In light of this situation, a bill was presented in the Legislature that seeks to preserve the Amazon region.
The legislative initiative was presented by deputy Oscar Balderas, from Comunidad Ciudadana (CC). One of its points establishes the creation of the Bolivian Institute for Amazonian Development (Ibodesa)as a decentralized public entity of the Ministry of Development Planning and based in the city of Riberalta, Beni.
“The Bolivian Institute for Amazonian Development (Ibodesa) is the technical executive body responsible for directing, coordinating and executing planning for the comprehensive and sustainable development of the Amazon with the inter-institutional participation of the different levels of government of the Bolivian Amazon, actors of the Amazonian civil society and the public and private sectors,” says point 2 of article 5 of the bill.
Then he establishes that the structure, powers, organization and competences of Ibodesto They will be defined through a regulation and the source of financing for this entity will be a budget allocation from the General Treasury of the Nation, its own income, items from the departmental governments of Beni, Pando and La Paz and others obtained through donations, legacies or loans.
According to Deputy Balderas, Ibodesa will not be an entity similar to the Agency for the Development of Macroregions and Border Zones (Ademaf), which according to a 2023 decree was closed to save resources.
“All assets owned by Ademaf and those under its custody, as well as consumer goods, will be handed over to the Ministry of Development Planning for administration, under inventory, delivery record subject to verification and reception record establishing the technical and legal status of the same, which will be signed jointly by both entities,” the regulation states.
In the Bolivian Amazon – and also in Amazonian areas of the region – the Crimes are in several cornersBolivia and Ecuador are home to the main points of illegal timber trafficking in the Amazon basin, according to an investigation carried out by the InSight Crime portal.
Illegal logging in the Amazon basin It is often the result of other environmental crimes, such as illegal gold mining, land trafficking, agricultural development and drug trafficking, according to the study, which covered Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana and Suriname. In addition, the link with drug trafficking mafias in the Bolivian Amazon was also revealed.
Trees are also illegally cut down for trafficking. After being cut, transported and processed in the Amazon region, the wood is sold on international markets, such as China, the United States and parts of Europe.
Across the region, corporate criminal networks are targeting high-value, often endangered species. These include Amazonian rosewood, mahogany and cedar, which are used to make furniture and musical instruments.
According to Deputy Balderas, a plan is needed to protect the Amazon and thus discourage the crimes that exist in this area, which covers the entire department of Pando and part of La Paz and Beni. “The Comprehensive Plan for the Bolivian Amazon is the planning instrument that establishes the management of resources, the coordination in the organization of public activities in order to harmonize and make compatible the policies, programs and strategic decisions for the comprehensive and sustainable development of the Amazon,” said the legislator.
Once the wood has been cut, it travels to various points using false documentation stating that it has been harvested in legally authorised areas and quantities. This is when Certificates of Forest Origin (CFO) are frequently filled out with false data. This method has been in place since 2016.
For example, the Forest and Land Authority (ABT) seized more than 200 logs in September 2023 from several sawmills located in Ascensión de Guarayos. The institution justified the confiscation by not having the required permits and it was verified that they were falsified.
The wood is then transported to cities in the Amazon region or to tax-free trading centres, where it is processed in sawmills belonging to intercultural communities and Chinese citizens, according to Alex Villca of the National Coordinator for the Defence of Indigenous, Originary, Peasant Territories and Protected Areas (Contiocap).
Villca agrees with the implementation of a standard, but asks that there be harsh penalties for miners and traffickers.
The Bala Canyon is located on the La Paz side of the Beni River. In this Amazonian area there are several threats, such as: the creation of a hydroelectric plant and illegal mining.
