Embassy Events

Parks In Peril Program in Amboró National Park Trains Park Rangers, Communities

Amboró park rangers received training through USAID's Parks in Peril Program

On September 7, 2007, institutions and communities that participated in the Parks in Peril (PiP) program in Amboró National Park celebrated the achievements of the five-year long USAID-funded biodiversity-protection effort.  The program demonstrated the commitment of the United States government to support biodiversity conservation efforts in protected areas, while at the same time providing ecological and economic benefits for Bolivians.     

Activities began in Amboró-Carrasco as part of PiP in 2002 and are primarily led by The Nature Conservancy's local partner, Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN).  The Amboró National Park is located within the Amboró – Madidi Corridor and is adjacent to the Carrasco Protected Area. 

Local community guide teaches tourists about Amboró's flora and fauna

USAID, through the PiP program, has provided valuable technical assistance to Park staff and institutions working in the Amboró and Carrasco National Parks, creating a 3 million acre (1.2 Million Ha.) corridor making up one of the most biodiversity-rich sites in Bolivia under protection.  Amboró National Park alone has more bird species than all of North America combined. Scientists have observed more than 300 orchid species, 600 fern species, 830 bird species, 127 mammal species, and 102 amphibian species within Carrasco and neighboring Amboró National Park boundaries.  This mega-diversity, however, is under constant threat by landless movements, illicit crop cultivation, and economic activities that have little respect for nature or the laws protecting the environment. 

USAID Environmental Team's Alvaro Luna poses with an ancient tree

The overall vision for the PiP program in this region

Educational signs installed during the program explain Amboró's biodiversity

was to strengthen the administration of both Amboró and Carrasco parks, working especially with Park Rangers and the surrounding communities.  USAID’s partners and other institutions provided technical support on such themes as: scientific research, monitoring, capacity building and training, legal issues, communication and environmental education, land tenure rights, land use planning, and economic development.  The final outcome of the PiP program in Amboró and Carrasco has been positive as both parks now are in a better position to address threats with established and functional management committees, strengthened park protection, strengthened local partners and improved relationships with local communities, including immigrant communities, which have helped foster a conservation stewardship ethic in the region.