Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve
Encyclopedia
The Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve (Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa; Spanish acronym: REA) is located in Sur Lípez Province. Situated in the far southwestern region of Bolivia
, it is the country's most visited protected area
. It is considered the most important protected area in terms of tourist influx in the Potosí Department
.
Located at an altitude between 4200 m (13,779.5 ft) and 5400 m (17,716.5 ft) in Bolivia, it extends over an area of 714745 hectares (1,766,171.8 acre) and includes the Laguna Coloreada National Wildlife Sanctuary. Categorized under IUCN Category IV, it is primarily for the protection of birds that inhabit the different lagoons in the reserve. The reserve protects part of the Central Andean dry puna
(oligothermic) ecoregion
. The reserve's major attractions are erupting volcanoes
, hot springs, geysers, lakes, fumaroles, mountains and its three endemic species of flamingos in particular.
n war hero of the 19th century. It was created by Supreme Decree (SD) of 13 December 1973 and extended on May 14, 1981.
and Argentina
. The mountains rise to heights varying from 3500 metre. The basin features depict active volcanoes, hot springs, geysers and fumaroles, and a parallel has been drawn with the Yellowstone National Park
in the US. Its water resources are limited to lakes and salt water lagoons due to very low rainfall of 760 mm (29.9 in) annually. Two communities, Quetena Chico and Quetena Grande, lie within the reserve.
Lakes include Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorada
, Laguna Salada, Laguna Busch and Laguna Hedionda. Laguna Colorada lies at an altitude of 1300 m (4,265.1 ft) and covers 60 km² (23.2 sq mi). It is named after the effect of wind and sun on the micro-organism that live in it. The lake is very shallow, less than 1 m (3.3 ft) deep, and supports some 40 bird species, providing pink algae
to population of rare James's Flamingo
es who can walk across it.
An unusual natural feature of attraction (much photographed) in the reserve is an isolated rock formation projecting out of the sand dunes of Siloli at a place known as Árbol de Piedra
. It is about 18 km (11.2 mi) north of Laguna Colorada. It is known as the “Stone Tree” as it is in the shape of a stunted tree, which is formed as a thin rock due to strong wind action.
The climate in winter (May to August) is dry, generally with no rain during the summer (December to April). The average temperature is 3 °C (37.4 °F). The lowest temperatures are recorded during the months of May, June and July.
The park contains the following mountains:
The most important income generating activity for the two local communities has been camelid
farming, selling llama wool and meat. With the restriction on fox hunting subsequent to the REA, community members' livelihoods have been negatively affected as the fox is the principal predator of llamas. Before establishment of the REA, flamingo egg sales provided monetary income to locals. The park visitor centre is located in Quetena Chico and tourism is growing steadily as, in 2007 there were over 67,000 visitors, six times the number reported in 1997. In addition to working in the tourist trade, locals pan for gold in the Río Quetena.
Mining is a major industry in and around the reserve, rich in natural resources of veins of lead
, zinc
and silver
. As a result, 61 mining concessions are located in the park. Also extracted are its nonmetallic mineral resources like sulfur
and ulexite
the evaporating mineral. Ulexite is converted to boric acid
and is exported to the United States, Europe
, Asia
and Australia
.
The reserve in the Andean has vegetation consisting of tropical alpine herbs with dwarf shrubs of the forests of Polylepis. Plant and tree species are reportedly about 190 species, in the harsh terrain, which have emerged given the conditions of salinity, lack of fresh water, low temperatures, and scarcity of nutrients. Flora restricted to this and other ecoregions include the genera Barneoudia, Hexaptera, Nototriche, Pycnophyllum and Werneria. The vegetation is characterized by the strong presence of pasture grass (straw) such as Peruvian feather grass
(Stipa ichu) in some plains and hillsides. The important plant species on which people are dependent for fuel wood in the area is yareta
, which grows in the forest of the reserve at 1 millimetre per year amidst rocky terrain. This hardwood tree, which looks like a foamy bubble bath but is as hard as stone, grows slowly, attaining a height of about 5 ft (1.5 m) in height with girth of 10 ft (3 m) and can be as old as 3000 years. In places with higher humidity, Tola or Thola (Parastrephia lepidophylla), Quinoa
and Kenua bush tree are found.The villagers use vegetation as fuel for heating and cooking.
The reserve is habitat for ten reptile
species (including two reptiles of the genera Liolaemus
), amphibians and fish. Other domesticated animals that are raised in 500 villages inhabited by Quetena Grande and Quetena Chico communities are the llamas and alpacas; however, grazing by these animals on the native grasses and plants in the reserve has a detrimental effect on the conservation of the park.
The fauna is characterized by the presence of species that have adapted to extreme living conditions in the region, some of them endangered. The reserve is home to 80 species of birds. Out of six flamingo species in the world, three species namely, Chilean, Andean and James flamingos are found in very large numbers in the freshwater lakes and saltwater lagoons of the reserve; of the Phoenicopterus chilensis, Phoenicoparrus andinus and Phoenicoparrus jamesi flamingos in the reserve, their population recorded in 1994 as 26,600. In addition, the reserve is also the habitat for 80 more species of birds, which include the falcon
s, ducks, Lesser Rhea (Pterocnemia pennata), Puna Tinamou
(Tinamotis pentlandii) and Andean Goose
(Chloephaga melanoptera). Endemic birds found in this ecoregion also include the endangered Ash-breasted tit-tyrant (Anairetes alpinus); the critically threatened royal cinclodes (Cinclodes aricomae), the vulnerable Berlepsch’s canastero (Asthenes berlepschi); and species of least concern the line-fronted canastero (Asthenes urubambensis), scribble-tailed canastero (Asthenes maculicauda), short-tailed finch (Idiopsar bracyurus), and gray-bellied flower-piercer (Diglosa carbonaria).
Mammals reported in the protected reserve are 23 species, which include pumas, Andean foxes (Pseudalopex culpaeus) and vizcacha (rabbit -like), and also Endangered species
of vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna), suri
, Andean condor
, keñua, puma (Felis concolor), andean cat (Felis jacobita), and quirquincho (Chaetophractus nationi).
, and Azorella compacta has brought the reserve under severe stress. It is due to overgrazing by domesticated animals, use of forest trees for fuel, burning, clearance for cultivation and due to dumping of tailings
or mining wastes. Tourism is also perceived as a threat to the park environment and the tourism industry has reported a visitation of a large number of people annually to the reserve; the security forces engaged for protecting the park is inadequate to meet this challenge. Human disturbance, soil erosion, wastes in lakes and lagoons, and fecal coliform runoff from waste are also identified reasons affecting the conservation of flamingos.
Parks in Peril (PiP), a program of intervention, a collaboration between "the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Nature Conservancy to Preserve our Natural Heritage" provided funding for conservations works of the reserve, which is one of the most economically backward areas. This funding, provided between 1999 and 2002, enabled PiP to work in association with the SERNAP and the Nature Conservancy, and TROPICO providing the supervisory services, to evolve a self sustaining strategy of utilizing park entrance fee for conservation related aspects. This experience gained from this pilot model for ecotourism is now replicated in other parks in Bolivia. Other strategies adopted for conservation of the reserve were: Restricting visitor access to some of the reserve’s vulnerable resources; providing natural gas and solar energy as cooking fuel replacing wood cutting from the reserve; agricultural extension services to educate farmers on better methods of farming; improvement of infrastructure in the reserve including staffing for patrolling and security; and collection of scientific data.
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, it is the country's most visited protected area
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
. It is considered the most important protected area in terms of tourist influx in the Potosí Department
Potosí Department
Potosí Department is a department in southwestern Bolivia. It comprises 118,218 km² with 709,013 inhabitants . The capital is the city of Potosí....
.
Located at an altitude between 4200 m (13,779.5 ft) and 5400 m (17,716.5 ft) in Bolivia, it extends over an area of 714745 hectares (1,766,171.8 acre) and includes the Laguna Coloreada National Wildlife Sanctuary. Categorized under IUCN Category IV, it is primarily for the protection of birds that inhabit the different lagoons in the reserve. The reserve protects part of the Central Andean dry puna
Central Andean dry puna
The Central Andean dry puna is an ecoregion, in the Montane grasslands and shrublands biome, located in the Andean High plateau, in South America...
(oligothermic) ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
. The reserve's major attractions are erupting volcanoes
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
, hot springs, geysers, lakes, fumaroles, mountains and its three endemic species of flamingos in particular.
History
Established in 1953, the national park is named after Eduardo Avaroa (1838–1879), the BoliviaBolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n war hero of the 19th century. It was created by Supreme Decree (SD) of 13 December 1973 and extended on May 14, 1981.
Geography
The reserve is situated in the southern region of Andean mountains in southwestern Bolivia. The highest mountain in the range is Eduardo Avaroa, which borders with ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. The mountains rise to heights varying from 3500 metre. The basin features depict active volcanoes, hot springs, geysers and fumaroles, and a parallel has been drawn with the Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
in the US. Its water resources are limited to lakes and salt water lagoons due to very low rainfall of 760 mm (29.9 in) annually. Two communities, Quetena Chico and Quetena Grande, lie within the reserve.
Lakes include Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorada
Laguna Colorada
thumb|250px|leftLaguna Colorada is a shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, within Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and close to the border with Chile....
, Laguna Salada, Laguna Busch and Laguna Hedionda. Laguna Colorada lies at an altitude of 1300 m (4,265.1 ft) and covers 60 km² (23.2 sq mi). It is named after the effect of wind and sun on the micro-organism that live in it. The lake is very shallow, less than 1 m (3.3 ft) deep, and supports some 40 bird species, providing pink algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
to population of rare James's Flamingo
James's Flamingo
James's Flamingo is also known as the Puna Flamingo. Named for Harry Berkeley James, it populates the high altitudes of Andean plateaus of Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. It is closely related to the Andean Flamingo, and the two make up the genus Phoenicoparrus...
es who can walk across it.
An unusual natural feature of attraction (much photographed) in the reserve is an isolated rock formation projecting out of the sand dunes of Siloli at a place known as Árbol de Piedra
Árbol de Piedra
Árbol de Piedra is an isolated rock formation in the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve of Sur Lípez Province, Bolivia. Much photographed, it projects out of the altiplano sand dunes of Siloli in the Potosí Department, about north of Laguna Colorado...
. It is about 18 km (11.2 mi) north of Laguna Colorada. It is known as the “Stone Tree” as it is in the shape of a stunted tree, which is formed as a thin rock due to strong wind action.
The climate in winter (May to August) is dry, generally with no rain during the summer (December to April). The average temperature is 3 °C (37.4 °F). The lowest temperatures are recorded during the months of May, June and July.
The park contains the following mountains:
- SairecaburSairecaburThe Sairécabur volcanic group is a volcanic chain directly south of the Putana Volcano, on the border between Bolivia and Chile. It contains at least 10 postglacial centers, the highest of which is Cerro Sairécabur at...
– 5,981 m, border with Chile - PutanaPutana VolcanoPutana is a stratovolcano on the border between Bolivia and Chile. It lies immediately NNE of Cerro Colorado, about north of Volcán Escalante, the northernmost member of the Sairecabur complex and south of the Cerros de Tocorpuri complex...
– 5,776 m - LicancaburLicancaburLicancabur is a highly symmetrical stratovolcano on the southernmost part of the border between Chile and Bolivia. It is located just southwest of Laguna Verde in Bolivia. The volcano dominates the landscape of the Salar de Atacama area...
– 5,415 m, border with Chile - Piedras Grandes – 5,710 m
- Chijilla – 5,709 m
- Callejón Chico – 5,708 m
- Aguas CalientesAguas Calientes (volcano)Aguas Calientes Volcano or Cerro Aguas Calientes, also called Simbad, is a cone-shaped stratovolcano located east of the Lascar volcano and directly north of Laguna Lejía, in Chile's II Region...
– 5,684 m - Villama – 5,678 m, border with Argentina
- Bravo – 5,656 m
- SanabriaSanabriaSanabria may refer to:*Sanabria - genus of bush crickets or katydids in the family Tettigoniidae subfamily Phaneropterinae* Sanabria or Senabria, a comarca in the province of Zamora, Spain...
– 5,654 m - Loromayu – 5,641 m
- Silata Chahuna – 5640 m
- JuriquesJuriquesJuriques is a stratovolcano on the border between Bolivia and Chile. It is located immediately southeast of Licancabur volcano and has a summit crater 1.5 km in its longest diameter. Laguna Verde lies at the foot of this volcano....
– 5,626, border with Chile - Poderosa – 5,614 m
- Quebrada Honda – 5,593 m
- Guayagues – 5,584 m
- Cahuna – 5,583 m
- Huaylla Jarita – 5,578 m
- Amarillo – 5,560 m
- Tres Cumbres – 5,509 m
- Pabeillón – 5,498 m
- Aguita Brava – 5,485 m
- Baratera – 5,484 m
- Bajo – 5,468 m, border with Argentina
- Puripica Chico – 5,464 m
- Suriphuyo – 5,458 m
- Panizo – 5,456 m
- Tinte – 5,384 m, border with Argentina
- Brajma – 5,356 m
- Guacha – 5,340 m
- Viscachillos – 5,301 m
- Lagunitas – 5,287 m
- Michina – 5,287 m
- Colorado – 5,264 m
- Sandoncito – 5,252 m
- Lagunitas – 5,203 m
- Estrato – 5,193 m
- Letrato – 5,193 m
- Chicalin – 5,123 m
- Cojita – 5,116 m
- ZapaleriZapaleriCerro Zapaleri is an extint volcano whose summit is the tripoint of the borders of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. It is part of Potosí Department , Jujuy Province , and Antofagasta Region ....
– 5,090 m, border with Argentina and Chile - Nelli – 5,078 m
- LinzorLinzorVolcán Linzor is a stratovolcano on the border between Bolivia and Chile. In its vicinity lie Laguna Colorada and Cerro del León....
– 5,069 m - Puntas Negras – 4,963 m
- Totoral – 4,963 m
- Cueva Blanca – 4,957 m
- Chaco Seguro – 4,948 m
- Loromita – 4,846 m
Culture
Quetena Chico, founded in the 1920s, has a population 520, while Quetena Grande, founded shortly thereafter, is the smaller of the two and has a population of 180. Although the inhabitants are of Quechua decent, their primary language is Spanish. Health care and schooling were unavailable until the 1990s, while electricity and potable water systems were also unavailable at least until 2005. Near Quetena Chico, there are some archaeological remains, jaranas (stone huts), tambos (trail markers), rock paintings, and a ceremonial site lying in a depression between two volcanoes. Atulcha (or Chullpares), is an archeological site with mummies in a cave on Tunupa Volcano.Economy
Camelid
Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only living family in the suborder Tylopoda. Dromedaries, Bactrian Camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos are in this group....
farming, selling llama wool and meat. With the restriction on fox hunting subsequent to the REA, community members' livelihoods have been negatively affected as the fox is the principal predator of llamas. Before establishment of the REA, flamingo egg sales provided monetary income to locals. The park visitor centre is located in Quetena Chico and tourism is growing steadily as, in 2007 there were over 67,000 visitors, six times the number reported in 1997. In addition to working in the tourist trade, locals pan for gold in the Río Quetena.
Mining is a major industry in and around the reserve, rich in natural resources of veins of lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
and silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
. As a result, 61 mining concessions are located in the park. Also extracted are its nonmetallic mineral resources like sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
and ulexite
Ulexite
Ulexite , sometimes known as TV rock, is a mineral occurring in silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parallel fibers. The natural fibers of ulexite conduct light along their long axes, by internal reflection...
the evaporating mineral. Ulexite is converted to boric acid
Boric acid
Boric acid, also called hydrogen borate or boracic acid or orthoboric acid or acidum boricum, is a weak acid of boron often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, as a neutron absorber, and as a precursor of other chemical compounds. It exists in the form of colorless crystals or a...
and is exported to the United States, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Flora
Peruvian feather grass
Jarava ichu, commonly known as Peruvian feather grass ichu, paja brava, and paja ichu, is a grass endemic to Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina, growing extensively in the Andean altiplano...
(Stipa ichu) in some plains and hillsides. The important plant species on which people are dependent for fuel wood in the area is yareta
Yareta
Yareta is a tiny flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to South America, occurring in the Puna grasslands of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, the north of Chile and the west of Argentina at between 3200 and 4500 metres altitude.Yareta is an evergreen perennial being in leaf...
, which grows in the forest of the reserve at 1 millimetre per year amidst rocky terrain. This hardwood tree, which looks like a foamy bubble bath but is as hard as stone, grows slowly, attaining a height of about 5 ft (1.5 m) in height with girth of 10 ft (3 m) and can be as old as 3000 years. In places with higher humidity, Tola or Thola (Parastrephia lepidophylla), Quinoa
Quinoa
Quinoa , a species of goosefoot , is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family...
and Kenua bush tree are found.The villagers use vegetation as fuel for heating and cooking.
Fauna
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
species (including two reptiles of the genera Liolaemus
Liolaemus
Liolaemus is a genus of iguanian lizard with many species found in South America. Some species have been recently kept as pets and as many of them originate from regions that experience cold conditions, they are named snow swifts...
), amphibians and fish. Other domesticated animals that are raised in 500 villages inhabited by Quetena Grande and Quetena Chico communities are the llamas and alpacas; however, grazing by these animals on the native grasses and plants in the reserve has a detrimental effect on the conservation of the park.
The fauna is characterized by the presence of species that have adapted to extreme living conditions in the region, some of them endangered. The reserve is home to 80 species of birds. Out of six flamingo species in the world, three species namely, Chilean, Andean and James flamingos are found in very large numbers in the freshwater lakes and saltwater lagoons of the reserve; of the Phoenicopterus chilensis, Phoenicoparrus andinus and Phoenicoparrus jamesi flamingos in the reserve, their population recorded in 1994 as 26,600. In addition, the reserve is also the habitat for 80 more species of birds, which include the falcon
Falcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
s, ducks, Lesser Rhea (Pterocnemia pennata), Puna Tinamou
Puna Tinamou
The Puna Tinamou, Tinamotis pentlandii also known as Pentland’s Tinamou is a member of the most ancient groups of bird families, the tinamous. This species is native to southern South America.-Taxonomy:...
(Tinamotis pentlandii) and Andean Goose
Andean Goose
The Andean Goose, Chloephaga melanoptera, is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae.It is resident around lakes and marshes in the high Andes, usually well above 3000 m...
(Chloephaga melanoptera). Endemic birds found in this ecoregion also include the endangered Ash-breasted tit-tyrant (Anairetes alpinus); the critically threatened royal cinclodes (Cinclodes aricomae), the vulnerable Berlepsch’s canastero (Asthenes berlepschi); and species of least concern the line-fronted canastero (Asthenes urubambensis), scribble-tailed canastero (Asthenes maculicauda), short-tailed finch (Idiopsar bracyurus), and gray-bellied flower-piercer (Diglosa carbonaria).
Mammals reported in the protected reserve are 23 species, which include pumas, Andean foxes (Pseudalopex culpaeus) and vizcacha (rabbit -like), and also Endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
of vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna), suri
Alpaca
An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance.Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, northern Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude of to above sea level, throughout the year...
, Andean condor
Andean Condor
The Andean Condor is a species of South American bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and is the only member of the genus Vultur...
, keñua, puma (Felis concolor), andean cat (Felis jacobita), and quirquincho (Chaetophractus nationi).
Threats
The region of Polylepis forests as a whole has been subject to heavy degradation. The overuse of Polylepis tarapacanaPolylepis tarapacana
Polylepis tarapacana, known in its native habitat by the Spanish common name Queñoa De Altura , is a short tree or shrub which is found in small, scattered groupings along the mountainous borders of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru , growing in soil formed by volcanos...
, and Azorella compacta has brought the reserve under severe stress. It is due to overgrazing by domesticated animals, use of forest trees for fuel, burning, clearance for cultivation and due to dumping of tailings
Tailings
Tailings, also called mine dumps, slimes, tails, leach residue, or slickens, are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore...
or mining wastes. Tourism is also perceived as a threat to the park environment and the tourism industry has reported a visitation of a large number of people annually to the reserve; the security forces engaged for protecting the park is inadequate to meet this challenge. Human disturbance, soil erosion, wastes in lakes and lagoons, and fecal coliform runoff from waste are also identified reasons affecting the conservation of flamingos.
Conservation
The Conservancy and the Bolivian National Protected Areas Service (SERNAP) has the onus for operating and maintaining the reserve with its trained 14 park guards who are provided with patrol vehicles and two-way radios. However, keeping in view the growing influx of tourists to the park and other threats from other sources as reported, SERNAP has prepared a Master Plan for park management plan subsuming ecotourism as an essential component to generate financial resources. According to Andy Drumm, director of the Ecotourism Program, entrance fees at the reserve amounted to about $200,000 in 2006. This necessitated a scientific study on the carrying capacity of the reserve due to large influx of tourists. However, SERNAP is associating the TROPICO (created in 1986 as a non-governmental, non-profit organization for biodiversity conservation in Bolivia.) as its conservancy partner to introduce and enforce environmental regulations in the reserve.Parks in Peril (PiP), a program of intervention, a collaboration between "the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Nature Conservancy to Preserve our Natural Heritage" provided funding for conservations works of the reserve, which is one of the most economically backward areas. This funding, provided between 1999 and 2002, enabled PiP to work in association with the SERNAP and the Nature Conservancy, and TROPICO providing the supervisory services, to evolve a self sustaining strategy of utilizing park entrance fee for conservation related aspects. This experience gained from this pilot model for ecotourism is now replicated in other parks in Bolivia. Other strategies adopted for conservation of the reserve were: Restricting visitor access to some of the reserve’s vulnerable resources; providing natural gas and solar energy as cooking fuel replacing wood cutting from the reserve; agricultural extension services to educate farmers on better methods of farming; improvement of infrastructure in the reserve including staffing for patrolling and security; and collection of scientific data.
External links
- Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve (in Spanish)