WCS in Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay
The central Andean region includes some of the most biologically diverse and highly-threatened areas on the planet. The region encompasses a vast range of ecosystems including the dry tropical forests of the Chaco, humid tropical forests along the eastern slopes of the Andes, humid and dry areas in the Andean uplands, flooded and terra firme forests characteristic of the Amazon basin, and large tracts of lowland tropical savanna. To save wildlife and wild lands, WCS concentrates on strengthening the management of protected areas, and working with local people in areas surrounding protected lands to devise and implement land management strategies that conserve habitats critical to maintaining biological diversity.

The Human Aspect
Over 84 percent of the region's more than 42 million people consider themselves to be entirely or partially of Amerindian heritage. Their struggles over land, water, and other natural resources have characterized much of the region's history since the European conquest. These conflicts play a fundamental role in shaping patterns of land use and influence people's relationships with wildlife. Many traditional systems of land management that were compatible with conserving biological diversity have been undermined by these struggles. And efforts to develop and implement long-term management strategies and to create and maintain the physical integrity of protected areas have also been discouraged. Nonetheless, the three countries have undertaken exceptionally bold and innovative steps to protect biological diversity, and play leading roles in promoting conservation worldwide.

Threats
Major threats stem from a combination of institutional weakness, which renders ineffective many government efforts to define and regulate land use, and continuing land conflicts related to ill-defined property and use rights. These conditions give rise to a series of specific threats including uncontrolled settlement of lowland areas (rich in biodiversity and unsuitable for agriculture), inadequately regulated logging, and poorly planned and executed road construction and infrastructure development.

WCS Activities
WCS supports three major site-based conservation activities, located in the Chaco of Bolivia and northern Paraguay, in northwestern Bolivia from the Andean cordillera to the Beni grasslands, and in the flooded forest areas of Loreto, Peru. We work closely with local partners in these areas to promote consolidating protected areas administration and land management in surrounding areas in a manner that maintains critical wildlife habitat. We also support independent researchers working on a variety of topics, including the impacts of subsistence hunting, conflicts between humans and wildlife, the population and ecology of flamingos in the lakes ecosystems of the high Andes, and management systems for wild vicuña populations.

Important Next Steps

• Complete ecological research to establish baseline information on landscape species, and implement associated monitoring systems.
• At key sites, strengthen protected area administrations by building the capacity to complete and implement sound management plans.
• Support the establishment of a conservation concession in the Yavarí Valley of Peru to ensure the conservation of critical species such as the red uakari and giant river otter.
• Support local populations to develop the skills to monitor and sustainably manage the impacts of their productive activities on wildlife and natural resources, and incorporate the resulting information into land-use decision making.
• Support participatory approaches for resolving land conflicts through zoning proposals that establish protection for critical habitats.
• Work with local populations and political authorities at different levels to develop methodologies for assessing the immediate and long-term impacts of large-scale infrastructure.