DIGITAL ARCHIPELAGO

Conservation of the Amazonian Forest and indigenous territories: from conflict to collaboration. A case study in the Bolivian Amazon

Ecology and Conservation Biology

Environment

2007

Tropical rainforests harbor a large percentage of the planet’s species diversity, as well as being home to indigenous and rural communities. This project has the twin goal of analyzing the relationship between different land uses and changes in the forest cover of an unprotected zone of the Bolivian Amazon with a rich biodiversity, and determining whether participative mapping, based on an experimental design, can relieve external pressures on indigenous lands.

DIRECTOR

Victoria Reyes García

RESEARCH TEAM

Agustín Lobo Aleu, Daniel Guinart Sureda, Esther Conde Velazco, Marti Orta, Ricardo Godoy, Tomás Huanca Laura, Victoria Reyes García.

COLLABORATING INSTITUTIONS

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

DESCRIPTION

Tropical rainforests harbor a large percentage of the planet’s species diversity, as well as being home to indigenous and rural communities. Past research into the relationship between these peoples and rainforest biodiversity has documented two opposing trends: a negative biodiversity impact of human groups and a positive correlation between biological and cultural diversity.

This project has the twin goal of analyzing the relationship between different land uses and changes in the forest cover of an unprotected zone of the Bolivian Amazon with a rich biodiversity, and determining whether participative mapping, based on an experimental design, can relieve external pressures on indigenous lands.