Bolivian Forestry Chamber warns of legalization devastation in El Chore

The forestry department expressed concern. Because they observed that the issuance of Supreme Decree (DS) 5202 Officials declare more than 224,000 hectares of discontent El Choré Forest Productive Reserve.

The Bolivian Forestry Chamber (CFB) stressed that El Choré once had more than 20 forestry companies logging trees, but now none of them exist.It also warned that this political decision could be repeated in other forest reserves such as Guarajos and Bajo Paragua.

CFB chairman Pedro Colantzi noted that the DS had not only destroyed one of the country’s most important forests; Legalizing illegal operations, driving out legitimate forest producers and entrenching forest-destroying settlements.

“In El Chore, there are more than 20 forestry operations used for timber harvesting, as the reserve was created specifically for timber use, but unfortunately, due to its geographical location andThe merger of the two towns of Yapacani (Ichilo) and Santa Rosa del Sara (Sara) became the center of a large number of migrant farmers (today’s settlers, intercultural) They have systematically overwhelmed El Choré. To this day, there is no longer a single forestry right in the area, and the invaders have driven all forest producers out of the reserve,” said Colantzi.

DS 5202 is the culmination of a carefully planned strategy that ignores the PLUS Act and the ConstitutionBacked by partisan interests, Kolanzi said this political decision could be repeated in other forest reserves in the country, e.g. Guarajos and Lower Paraguay, The consequences for the country’s forest resources are devastating.

Initially, the forest reserve area exceeded 1 million hectares Its reduction puts at risk the irreplaceable environmental services it provides to the northern part of the department, such as acting as a natural barrier against the winds entering from the Moxos Pampas, preventing wind erosion and protecting the important aquifer of Santa Cruz.

El Choré is the country’s first productive forest reserve, created in 1966. This was followed by an additional 180,000 hectares in 1991; that is, more than 1 million hectares of land were converted to logging.

The first tract of land in El Choré covers an area of ​​215,000 hectares. In the province of Sara. Colanzi said that now, in fact, they are destroying 224,597 hectares of land and will allocate 545,987 hectares to the so-called national park.

“94,000 hectares are missing and no one knows what happened. The math doesn’t add up,” the CFB president stressed.