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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
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| Nov 12 2006, 12:19 AM EST (current) | Anonymous | 1 photo added |
| Nov 12 2006, 12:16 AM EST | Anonymous | 477 words added |
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Since before colonial times the Izoceno Indians roamed the wide expanses of dry Chaco between Bolivia and Paraguay. Beginning in the 1970s, an ominous threat appeared on the horizon – the rapid destruction of the Chaco for mechanized agriculture (principally soybeans). At that time, none of the Chaco was protected and the Izocenos lacked title to the land that they occupied. The Izoceño organization CABI (Capitania del Alto y Bajo Izozog, or Leadership of Upper and Lower Izozog) represents the 8,000 Izocenos living in 23 communities.
In the early 1990s CABI’s leaders concluded that establishing a protected area would the best option to legally halt the advance of the agricultural frontier and provide a framework for Chaco conservation. CABI approached the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which had been collaborating with them on wildlife management. WCS agreed to provide technical assistance. Their partnership was successful, and in September of 1995 the Government of Bolivia created the Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Area (KINP). CABI was named co-administrator.
Covering 3.4 million hectares, Kaa-Iya is the largest protected area in Bolivia. It contains the largest area of dry tropical forest under protection in the world and is one of the few protected areas in the Americas established as a result of the initiative of a Native American People (M. Painter pers. comm.). In 1995 USAID and WCS formed an alliance with CABI to help them meet their new responsibilities as co-administrator of Kaa Iya. The program strengthened CABI’s administrative capacity and helped them to assume their leadership role. These capacities soon proved important.
Proponents of the largest infrastructure project in South America – a gas pipeline running from Bolivia to Brazil – proposed that it cross Kaa Iya. With the support of USAID, the World Bank, and the InterAmerican Development Bank, CABI negotiated directly with the pipeline sponsors.
On December 8, 1997 the parties reached a comprehensive agreement, an important precedent for indigenous groups in Bolivia. The project sponsors agreed to a $1.5 million land titling program. For the first time, a Bolivian indigenous organization received definitive titles to its territories. This halted the speculative land titling process occurring adjacent to the park by creating a buffer zone. The agreement also established a $1 million trust fund (which has since grown to $2 million), which provides a permanent source of funds to finance conservation activities defined as priorities in the park’s management plan. This has been the key source of complimentary funding for the park described elsewhere in this document.
While protecting the park, the Izoceños have also consolidated a 1.9 million ha indigenous territory that now serves at its buffer zone. Thus, they now administer an area totaling 5.3 million ha. The experience has been remarkably successful, demonstrating that indigenous peoples and park authorities can effectively partner to achieve shared goals.
Source - Douglas Mason
In the early 1990s CABI’s leaders concluded that establishing a protected area would the best option to legally halt the advance of the agricultural frontier and provide a framework for Chaco conservation. CABI approached the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which had been collaborating with them on wildlife management. WCS agreed to provide technical assistance. Their partnership was successful, and in September of 1995 the Government of Bolivia created the Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Area (KINP). CABI was named co-administrator.
Covering 3.4 million hectares, Kaa-Iya is the largest protected area in Bolivia. It contains the largest area of dry tropical forest under protection in the world and is one of the few protected areas in the Americas established as a result of the initiative of a Native American People (M. Painter pers. comm.). In 1995 USAID and WCS formed an alliance with CABI to help them meet their new responsibilities as co-administrator of Kaa Iya. The program strengthened CABI’s administrative capacity and helped them to assume their leadership role. These capacities soon proved important.Proponents of the largest infrastructure project in South America – a gas pipeline running from Bolivia to Brazil – proposed that it cross Kaa Iya. With the support of USAID, the World Bank, and the InterAmerican Development Bank, CABI negotiated directly with the pipeline sponsors.
On December 8, 1997 the parties reached a comprehensive agreement, an important precedent for indigenous groups in Bolivia. The project sponsors agreed to a $1.5 million land titling program. For the first time, a Bolivian indigenous organization received definitive titles to its territories. This halted the speculative land titling process occurring adjacent to the park by creating a buffer zone. The agreement also established a $1 million trust fund (which has since grown to $2 million), which provides a permanent source of funds to finance conservation activities defined as priorities in the park’s management plan. This has been the key source of complimentary funding for the park described elsewhere in this document.
While protecting the park, the Izoceños have also consolidated a 1.9 million ha indigenous territory that now serves at its buffer zone. Thus, they now administer an area totaling 5.3 million ha. The experience has been remarkably successful, demonstrating that indigenous peoples and park authorities can effectively partner to achieve shared goals.
Source - Douglas Mason
