Sustainable forestry in Bolivia began with Indigenous communities

1990 March for Territory and Dignity in Bolivia which propelled Bolivia forward as a leader of sustainable forestry in the 2000s.

I have published a new paper with Nancy Langston in Environmental History on the Indigenous roots of sustainable forestry in Bolivia. In the mid-2000s, Bolivia emerged as a leader in sustainable tropical forestry, in large part because of Ley 1700, the 1996 forestry law. Indigenous lowland communities were instrumental in this transformation. In 1990, an Indigenous protest march called the March for Territory and Dignity unified Indigenous communities and incorporated Indigenous concepts of territory into the national dialogue and legal framework. In response to Indigenous protest, the Bolivian government established Indigenous-controlled territories and enacted forestry reforms that incorporated community demands and values.

See the article in Environmental History or download for free at the US Forest Service’s Tree search.

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