Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Natural World
When people think of Bolivia they generally conjure up images of somewhere high (La
Paz), dry (Altiplano) and salty (Uyuni salt plains). While this may be true for large areas of
the country, there's much more to the Bolivian landscape than just mountains. The range of
altitude - from 130m in the jungles of the Amazon Basin to 6542m on the peaks of the
rugged Andes - has resulted in a huge variety of ecological and geological niches support-
ing a bewildering variety of nature. Environmentally it is one of the most diverse countries
on the continent.
The country has 1415 bird species and 5000
described plant species, some of the highest
numbers in the world. It's also among the neo-
tropical countries with the highest level of
endemism (species which exist only in Bolivia),
with 21 birds, 28 reptiles, 72 amphibians and 25
mammals found nowhere else on earth.
But while it may seem obvious that Bolivia's natural resources are one of its greatest as-
sets, not everybody values assets that don't have a direct monetary value. From the lush
tropical forests of Amboró National Park to the wetlands of the Pantanal, the scrub that ob-
scures the Chaco gas fields and the
Polylepis
woodlands of the Andes, the Bolivian envir-
onment is under constant threat from destruction for economic exploitation.
A 2008 World Bank report concluded that climate
change would eliminate many glaciers in the Andes
within 20 years, threatening the existence of nearly
100 million people.
