Hey, at my school I got Bolivia as my project and I was wondering if you knew what type of environmental concerns and natural disasters there are? Also what are the important places there are? Sincerely, Cierra Jay
Good questions Cierra. Bolivia is home to 40% of the world's biodiversity (wildlife and plant life) and is where three of the most biodiverse zones on Earth are located (the Yungas in Northern La Paz department, the Pantanal in Southeastern Bolivia, which are among the second largest wetlands in the world, and the Amazon rainforest and related forests, rivers, basins and tributaries. These are typically called "hot zones".
However, Bolivia as a whole is concerned about climate change because it's causing havoc in various regions of the country.
For example, in the Chaco region Bolivia is experiencing one of the worst drought seasons in history. In the Andes the glaciers and snowcaps on the mountains are melting rapidly. Lake Titicaca's levels are at their lowest in 40 years. In zones that typically flood (seasonally) like in the Northern department of Beni, flooding has been more severe lately. Excessive rains also cause landslides, wiping out houses that are built on hillsides, and damaging or completely blocking roads (mostly in the mountainous areas) where transportation is already limited. It cuts off portions of the country from others because Bolivia has few main highways to begin with.
Besides droughts, flooding, ice melting, and landslides, Bolivia also experiences occasional earthquakes (although they are very rare).
Bolivia has good reason to worry about climate change and to work on the preservation of its natural resources.
I suggest you read some of the articles contributed by the WWF in their Reading Room (scroll to the bottom of this page):
