Bolivia Burning REDD

Ready for a crash-course in Bolivian politics? This audio doco sought to understand why Bolivia was the only country to not sign the 2010 UN REDD agreement to combat climate change. The journey examines a controversial road through a major national park. (Its $400m contract had already been signed, even though the road was not legal.) The journey also looks at the race card of indigenous politics, as played by the then-president of Bolivia, Evo Morales. Along the way, there are insights into the country's cocaine economy, real estate extortion, and too many displaced wild animals.

UPDATE: This audio is now version 2. After more than a decade, I have fresh ears and was able to edit several minutes out.

In 2005, my partner and I had a wonderful year hiking, working and just generally meandering our way through South America. Bolivia felt like home to me, with its native peoples and tall, jungled mountains, not unlike PNG, where I grew up.

I returned to Bolivia for some weeks in 2010, and was dismayed by the smoke and thirsty Amazon I saw then. I decided to give myself a travelling project: an audio documentary, which was later aired on Brisbane’s 4ZZZ EcoRadio programme. I also pitched it to other media orgs but they said that due to its technical nature and length, it would be better in long-print format, but I didn’t convert it. Instead, I added a few images to get it into video format but ran out of steam. There are perhaps too many details for the average listener (it runs for almost half an hour) – but it should appeal to fellow greenies, especially those with a connection to Bolivia. 

REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and (forest) Degradation. The UN-REDD programme was set up a long time ago but I wonder if any use has come of it. It faces challenges such as those described in the audio doco.

I’m indebted to travellers I met along the road, who obliged with their voice-overs. I’m also indebted to these interviewees: Bonafacio Mostacero (then Technical Director for Bolivia’s Authority of Forests and Land), Gonzalo Rojas (former President of the National Engineers’ Association and Vice-Minister of the Department of Transportation), Nene Baltazaar (then President of the animal refuge Communidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY)), Robert Thorn (then volunteer at CIWY), Magali Caupus (then Public Prosecutor for Environmental Issues in Cochabamba state), and Bonnie Vargus (former environmental adviser to the Bolivian Government on the creation of a wildlife corridor).

 

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