Industrial agriculture threatens a wetland oasis in Bolivia
by Gustavo Jiménez Gonzáles on 30 December 2020
It was August 26, 2020. Dirlene Mejía, a park ranger who works in the area around Concepción Lake, a protected area located in eastern Bolivia, had just left for her usual route. When she approached the lakeshore, she noticed an unusual number of dead fish. Surprised by what she had found, she began to walk around the lake. With each step, she found more dead animals.
Mejía immediately shared her discovery with her superiors, who then advised the mayor’s office in the Pailón municipality. In an interview with Mongabay Latam, the municipal office confirmed that the dead fish covered about 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) of beach around the southern part of the lake.
Dead fish litter the shore of Concepción Lake. Photo by Hubert Vaca.
However, what seemed to be a shocking discovery was not surprising for Erwin Menacho, a 66-year-old resident of El Cerrito, a community about 10 kilometers (about six miles) from the protected area. Menacho said he previously witnessed a similar event in 2001.
“There were many lifeless fish … scattered throughout the entire lake. It was like an animal cemetery; it was very sad to see so much death,” said Menacho, recalling the incident from almost 20 years ago.
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Agroindustrial takeover
In May 2002, Concepción Lake was declared a Ramsar Site, which is a categorization awarded to certain wetlands for being important reserves of water and biodiversity. In July 2002, the mayor’s office in the Pailón municipality also decided to create the Concepción Lake Municipal Protected Area.
At the time, activities related to livestock already existed around the body of water, but only on private property. The mayor’s office in the Pailón municipality has identified a total of 13 properties around the lake. “It has been verified that livestock activity and the free transit of these animals around the southern part of the lake have caused soil compaction,” said Nadir Arias, head of the Pailón municipality environmental unit. Arias is particularly concerned by two Mennonite communities —California and El Cerrito— that are operating within the protected area within five kilometers (about three miles) from the lake.
More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/industrial-agriculture-threatens-a-wetland-oasis-in-bolivia/
