Bolivia has suffered severe forest degradation, with fires affecting 24 million hectares over the past two decades, especially in Beni and Santa Cruz. The 2019 Chiquitania fires underscored the urgent need for restoration. Despite Bolivia’s commitments to global initiatives like the Bonn Challenge and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, financial and technical constraints hinder progress. To address this, spatial analyses using GIS and remote sensing help identify priority areas for natural and assisted restoration.
Over the past several years, the World Bank has sponsored analyses focused on the forestry sector and NDCs in Chiquitania, a region of tropical savannas in the Santa Cruz Department in eastern Bolivia, including CSF’s 2022 economic valuation analysis of the environmental functions of Bolivia’s Chiquitano Dry Forests. Based on this and other similar studies, the Forest Board has identified the need to analyze investment options focused on reforestation, restoration, and the sustainable management of forests for the conservation of ecosystems in Chiquitania, Chaco, Yungas, and the inter-Andean forests, among other regions in Bolivia.
In collaboration with The Foundation for the Chiquitano Forest Conservation (FCBC), CSF conducted a pre-feasibility study for Bolivia’s Forest Board, led by the Mother Earth Plurinational Authority (APMT). The study pinpoints key intervention areas in the Chiquitano Dry Forest, Chaco, and Pantanal, estimates restoration costs, and provides strategies to enhance forest recovery.
This initiative supports national climate commitments by guiding decision-making, mobilizing resources, and integrating sustainable forest management into conservation strategies. Beyond local benefits, restoring degraded forests helps mitigate climate change, preserves biodiversity, and strengthens ecosystem services like water security and carbon storage.
The project was supported by the World Bank and PROGREEN, with additional collaboration from Bolivian government entities such as the Mother Earth Plurinational Authority (APMT), Viceministerio de Medio Ambiente, Biodiversidad, Cambios Climáticos y de Gestión y Desarrollo Forestal (VMABCCYDGF), and The Foundation for the Chiquitano Forest Conservation (FCBC). These partnerships ensure technical expertise and financial resources necessary for achieving project objectives.
You can access the full report (in Spanish) on our website here.
This project was supported by the World Bank and was implemented in partnership with FCBC.
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