Debt-for-Nature Swap in Bolivia
Case Study C0211
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| Date | 1993 |
| Agency | Government of Bolivia |
| Donor/support agency | Conservation International USAID |
| Project type | Implemented by agency |
| Context(s) | Protected area |
| Geographic coverage | Bolivia |
| Biodiversity focus | Ecosystem/landscape |
| Development focus | Indigenous communities |
| Conservation goals | Increase and extend the conservation effort in Bolivia |
| Poverty reduction goals | Support the indigenous communities living in and around protected areas and conserve their culture |
Summary
The Government of Bolivia signed its first agreement linking the reduction of its foreign debt with a policy decision to guarantee the sustainable management of a biologically important area in 1987 with Conservation International (CI). According to this agreement, CI would acquire and return $650.000 of debt to the Bolivian Government, and would provide technical, administrative and scientific assistance to implement a resource management programme in the area bordering the Beni Biosphere Reserve. The Bolivian Government, for its part, undertook to provide the Beni Biosphere Reserve with maximum legal protection and to create three adjacent protected areas: the Yacuma Regional Park, the Watershed Protection Zone and the Chimane Sustainable Production Forest. The plan covered a total area of 1.16 million hectares. It was also decided to set up a fund with the equivalent of $250.000 for the management of the Beni Reserve. The Government would provide the equivalent of $100.000 and the rest would come from USAID.
The debt for nature swap project in Bolivia had only a negligible impact in terms of the reduction of the Bolivian foreign debt. However, this project, the first of its kind, made the country aware of the need to support and facilitate natural resource conservation and sustainable management projects and initiatives.
Conservation impact
The following are some of the results of the project to date:
- A 200% increase in protected areas
- The intriduction of sustainable forest management concepts with the active participation of the timber concessionaires
Strategy for Conservation/Poverty Linkages
Payments for conservation services
Reference 1
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/T0670E/T0670E00.HTM
Related records above this one:
- United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (Organisation O0100)
- Conservation International (CI) (Organisation O0112)
Similar record to this one:
- Debt-for-Nature Swap in Ecuador (Case study C0213)
- Debt-for-Nature Swap in the Philippines (Case study C0215)
- Debt-for-Nature Swap in Madagascar (Case study C0214)
- Debt-for-Nature Swap in the Dominican Republic (Case study C0216)