OCCASIONAL PAPER The context of deforestation and forest degradation in Bolivia Drivers, agents and institutions Robert Müller Pablo Pacheco Juan Carlos Montero OCCASIONAL PAPER 108 The context of deforestation and forest degradation in Bolivia Drivers, agents and institutions Robert Müller Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Pablo Pacheco Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Juan Carlos Montero Universidad de Freiburg Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Occasional Paper 108 © 2014 Center for International Forestry Research Content in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ ISBN 978-602-1504-39-0 Müller R, Pacheco P and Montero JC. 2014. The context of deforestation and forest degradation in Bolivia: Drivers, agents and institutions. Occasional Paper 108. Bogor, Indonesia: CIFOR. Translation of: Müller R. Pacheco P y Montero JC. 2014. El contexto de la deforestación y degradación de los bosques en Bolivia: Causas, actores e instituciones. Documentos Ocasionales 100. Bogor, Indonesia : CIFOR. Photo by Samuel M Beebe/Flickr creative common Forest conversion in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. CIFOR Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede Bogor Barat 16115 Indonesia T +62 (251) 8622-622 F +62 (251) 8622-100 E [email protected] cifor.org We would like to thank all donors who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund. For a list of Fund donors please see: https://www.cgiarfund.org/FundDonors Any views expressed in this book are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of CIFOR, the editors, the authors’ institutions, the financial sponsors or the reviewers. Table of contents Executive summary v Acknowledgements vii 1 Introduction 1 2 Forests, land-use changes and drivers of deforestation and forest degradation 3 2.1 Characteristics of forests 3 2.2 Relevant agents and land tenure in Bolivia’s lowlands 3 2.3 Drivers and processes of deforestation 8 2.4 Drivers and processes of forest degradation 19 2.5 Contribution of deforestation to carbon emissions 22 3 Political, social and economic conditions 24 3.1 Context of the main legal and political changes 24 3.2 Regulatory framework for land and forest management 28 3.3 Decentralization, autonomies and benefit sharing 33 3.4 Land and forest tenure and distribution 35 4 Environmental policy: Proposals and political processes 39 4.1 International context of REDD+ negotiations 39 4.2 The Bolivian position on climate change in neoliberal governments 41 4.3 The new Bolivian position on climate change 41 4.4 Initial contradictions in the Bolivian proposal 45 4.5 The Law of Mother Earth and the Joint Mechanism 48 4.6 Different agents’ perspectives on REDD+ 51 5 Concepts and policies for effective, efficient and equitable mitigation of deforestation and forest degradation 52 5.1 Potential measures to reduce deforestation and forest degradation 52 5.2 Discussion of alternative policies to REDD in Bolivia 59 5.3 Evaluation of the Bolivian proposal regarding the 3Es 65 6 Conclusions 68 7 References 73 List of figures, tables, boxes and maps Figure 1 Area affected by forest fires in the Department of Santa Cruz by land-use type (2006–2011) 22 Tables 1 Main forest types in Bolivia 5 2 Rural society agents with influence on land and forest-use 7 3 Forests in areas restricting non-agricultural-uses 9 4 Deforestation rates from selected periods, 1976–2010 9 5 Deforestation data from 1990–2010 9 6 Contributions of the three proximate drivers of deforestation 11 7 Characteristics of the main direct drivers of deforestation 12 8 Average NPV per hectare for different land-uses in the Department of Santa Cruz (8% discount rate) 14 9 Underlying drivers of deforestation in Bolivia 17 10 Approximate emissions from deforestation 23 11 Major international agreements ratified by the Bolivian State 25 12 Legal framework governing land and forest governance in Bolivia in the neo liberal period 26 13 Legal framework guiding land and forest governance in Bolivia from 2006 to date 28 14 Current legal framework for forest management in Bolivia 31 15 Summary of the main actions undertaken by Bolivia 42 16 Potential policies to address deforestation and forest degradation 52 17 Measures to mitigate deforestation and forest degradation in Bolivia 54 18 Agents and uses that contribute to forest conservation 59 19 Evaluation of new policies for forests and climate change in Bolivia regarding the 3Es 66 Boxes 1 Extracts from the letter from President Evo Morales, Poznan-Poland, November 2008 43 2 Extract of the letter from President Evo Morales, October 2010 44 3 Summary of the Proposal “Sustainable Forest Life”, December 2011 45 4 Decision on alternatives to the carbon market at COP 17 in Durban, South Africa 45 5 Decisions related to the Bolivian proposal at COP 18 in Doha 46 6 Joint Mitigation and Adaptation Mechanism for the Integrated and Sustainable Management of Forests and Mother Earth 49 7 Single operational and methodological process of the Joint Mechanism 50 Maps 1 Ecological units in the Bolivian forest 4 2 Agents and use rights in Bolivian forests 6 3 Advance of deforestation over time 10 4 Expansion of main drivers of deforestation in 1992–2010 11 5 Projected agricultural expansion to lowland forests in Bolivia 15 6 Approximate location of degraded forests in Bolivia 21 Executive summary About of half of Bolivia is covered by forests. This translated into poor adjustment of land and Around 40 out of 50 million ha of forest grow forest policies. Land policies focused on collective in the lowlands. There are significant pressures titling of indigenous territories, started by previous on these forests, which have increased over time. governments and forest policies introduced About 200,000 ha of forest are lost annually, minor changes to forest regulations, especially mostly in the lowlands. The three main proximate by promoting integrated forest management drivers of deforestation are mechanized agriculture, regulations, control procedures for illegal logging cattle ranching and small-scale agriculture. and, more recently, regulating illegal deforestation. Conversion of forest to pasture for grazing caused However, despite changes in the discourse on the more than half of the deforestation in 2000–2010. vision of forest management and the importance of Mechanized agriculture, mostly for soybean a more integrated and inclusive management, still production, has been responsible for some 30% no substantial changes in land and forest policy of deforestation, while small-scale agriculture has and legislation were made and a new forest law is accounted for some 20%. Underlying drivers of still under discussion. deforestation include greater integration of the agricultural economy in international markets, As regards the Bolivian position in international strong international investment, such as from climate change negotiations, the government Brazil and increased demand in the domestic initially was a staunch supporter of the proposal for market due to the growth of the urban population, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest in addition to other factors, such as road expansion degradation (REDD). However, this position and institutional weaknesses and uncertainties. changed when Evo Morales took office. The new government assumed a position against the Since the mid-1980s, there has been increased marketization of nature and in favor of climate pressure on forests associated with agricultural justice. This position was largely identical to the expansion. Since the 1990s, various policies have one of the World People’s Summit on Climate been tested to regulate frontier expansion, mostly Change in 2010, which was defended by the based on land-ownership regularization, land- government of Bolivia at the international level. use planning and sustainable forest management. However, Bolivia eventually adopted a more Despite the progress, these policies have failed proactive position that has resulted in emphasizing to reduce deforestation driven by the advance of the importance of mechanisms that are not market agriculture or the predatory timber extraction with based. In this context, the government of Bolivia effects on forest degradation. Deforestation has has created the so-called “Joint Mitigation and now stabilized, but at a relatively high rate. Adaptation Mechanism for the Integrated and Sustainable Management of Forests and Mother In the mid-2000s, major political changes led to Earth”. The proposal was formally adopted questioning of existing public policies over their as public policy in the Law of Mother Earth, neo liberal orientation. This criticism included approved in 2012 and its regulatory decree a strong emphasis on alternative views such of 2013. as the idea of “living in harmony and balance with Mother Earth”, which has become one of In addition, the Plurinational Authority of Mother the pillars of current Government’s discourse. Earth and the Plurinational Fund of Mother Earth This resulted in a change in public institutions, were created. However, these efforts seem to be reinforcing the role of the State with a more insufficient to address two major challenges in centralist perspective, but accompanied by political the Bolivian environmental agenda. The first is disputes with some departmental governments. to reverse important economic forces that create vi | Robert Müller, Pablo Pacheco and Juan Carlos Montero increased pressures on forests, particularly as a but the priority is on mitigating the conversion of result of persistent expansion of cattle ranching existing forests. and medium- and large-scale mechanized agriculture, along with the continued progress of Through the Joint Mechanism, the new policies new settlements, which are also encouraged by a aim to support models of integrated and parallel discourse of the government to support sustainable forest management that have been food production and food sovereignty. The developed by local experiences and knowledge of second challenge concerns the weak capacities of indigenous peoples and other traditional groups.