Bolivia's dying environment - part II

Earlier I mentioned what is going on with Bolivia's lakes. The rest of the nature is not doing much better. The government last year reclassified several natural reserves for oil and gas exploration. One of the areas concerned is the unique Madidi natural park. In total 11 out of a total 22 areas have been reclassified. So again - I believe that it's his belief when the president declares "los países del norte quieren que nosotros seamos sus guardabosques" e.g. the northern countries want us to be their forest guards. Moreover in th latest news (El Diario) we can see the results: "En Bolivia, deforestación llega a 350.000 hectáreas al año". In English: 350000 hectares of forest disappears every year in Bolivia. Not much use to throw money into protecting the forests. Maybe the best solution would be to stop all these useless protection programmes until a connection between the money invested and the results can be made? Perhaps the government would re-think it's approach if the money is simply cut.

Bolivia's dying environment

While this country has many areas of unspoiled and untouched nature, it's sad to see how rapidly this is changing. The president repeadetly states to foreign politicians: "We are tired of being your forest guards". I believe him - fact is Bolivia never did anything to stop pollution in the Amazon. The rivers flowing down to the Amazon region are in a horrendous state. Now 3 upper lakes - Titicaca, Poopoo, Alalay - are all dead in record time. And that's before industrialization has even started in the country:

13.12.2015
"El lago Poopó, que hace cinco años tenía tres metros de profundidad, en los lugares más bajos, ahora está a punto de desaparecer, porque apenas tiene 30 centímetros de agua."

In essence: Poopoo is drying up and will disappear.

25.01.2016
"La Autoridad Nacional del Agua (ANA) de Perú declaró el estado de emergencia en los recursos hídricos de las fuentes naturales de agua de las cuencas Caplina-Ocoña y del lago Titicaca"

14.02.2016

"El lago Titicaca es un "paciente en coma" y las autoridades no asumen acciones, para salvar este recurso sagrado."

Titicaca is so polluted it is considered "beyond repair" by experts. 

17.03.2016
"Tras la muerte de miles de peces en la laguna Alalay de la ciudad de Cochabamba, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Agua realizó una inspección y analizó muestras que revelaron un exceso de sulfuro de hidrógeno y una sobrepoblación de microalgas en suspensión, que causaron la ausencia de oxígeno por las noches, informaron el lunes fuentes oficiales."

Laguna  Alalay is the latest tragedy in the series. A few days ago thousands of dead fish were found on it's shores.

But when the rivers are like in these photos are you surprised?

One of the rivers of La Paz

Rio Tipuani. The water in this river was crystal clear just a bit higher up. After the first gold mine this is what it looks like.