In eastern Bolivia, a 30,000-hectare forest has been used sustainably for the last twenty years, protected from the deforestation that has plagued the surrounding area. Now, however, just when it was on the verge of being sold to conservationists and placed under even stronger protection, the deal has been canceled at the last minute, and the land has been transferred to a company that intends to cut the forest down, Mongabay reported.
What's happening?
The Chiquitano dry forest in eastern Bolivia contains a 74,178-acre area that used to be selectively logged for specific types of wood, such as rosewood, by Dutch wood flooring producer INPA. The company held multiple FSC certifications for sustainable work on the plot, but those certifications have expired.
The conservation organization Amazonas For Life Europe AB had arranged around $26.1 million in financing to purchase the plot of land with the backing of Rabobank, Invest International, and the Netherlands Development Finance Company. With their help, the conservation organization would have planted the area with cashews and baru nuts and used it to back carbon credits, preserving it for the future.
However, instead, the land has suddenly been sold to the agricultural company Bom Futuro for $20 million. The company is likely to cut down the forest in the area and use the land to produce its usual products, such as soy, cotton, corn, and beef.
Why is this land deal important?
The Chiquitano dry forest serves as a vital buffer between the Gran Chaco and Cerrado savannas and the Amazon rainforest. The more of the forest is removed, the more the area is vulnerable to desertification, which impacts the Indigenous communities present in the region.
"[Losing the INPA forest] would accelerate degradation and drought across Chiquitanía and beyond," Amazonas For Life Europe AB founder Helena Lindemark told Mongabay. "But it's not too late to act."
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What's being done about the land purchase?
Lindemark is raising money for a legal challenge against the land deal. Her other organization, the 2022 Initiative Foundation, will back the local Lomerío and Monte Verde Indigenous groups in petitioning Bolivia's regulatory agencies to stop the deforestation of the plot.
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