Indigenous Rights

Student Pamela Rocha wanted to do something different for her graduation project at the college. "I saw that logging in Bolivia was not only damaging to the environment, but that native populations were being taken advantage of."

Just outside of our diocese, in the tropical Alto Beni region of Bolivia, there is an amazon tribe called the Mosetén people. These people have lived from the forest for hundreds of years, and were given land by the government for their own uses.


Photo: A Mosetén village.

The tribe has special privledges as to how their land is used, including logging rights not available to most Bolivians. However, commercial loggers have been making special agreements with the Mosetén tribe to "help" them log amazonian hardwoods balsam (Myroxylon balsamun) and amburana (Amburana cearensis), paying them for the hard physical labor of extracting of the wood from the forest and little else.


Photo: Balsam tree cut in the forest.

Pamela researched the regrowth of these two tree species and found that the way the logger were cutting would quickly eliminate these species from the Mosetén forest. She recommends implementing a forest plan which includes leaving very old trees to grow to act as a natural source of seed (they have little commercial value due to cracked trunks); guide the felling to minimize damage to understory; and replant these two species in the forest to assure their continued success.


Photo: Pamela measured a tree growing in the clearing created by the cutting of a hardwood species.

She also worked with the tribe to help them develop a sustainable forest management plan for themselves, and encouraged them to get capital to be able to log the forest themselves. Power to the people!

Pamela mentioned how much Sister Damon meant to her as she spoke after her defense, how she didn't imagine how the love of a single person could touch so many people and change so many lives. I think we would all agree with that. Thank you, Sister Damon.

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Addendum (Aug. 29): When I told Pamela about a comment that long-time supporter and friend Catherine Quiroga left on the blog, Pamela wrote, "quería comentarte que, gracias a Dios, el proyecto en el que actualmente trabajo está apoyando a esta comunidad con el cultivo de cacao, poniendo este bajo un sistema agroforestal; de la misma forma la ONG ACDI/VOCA está ayudando con el manejo de sus cuencas hidrográficas -- estoy en constante contacto -- y Dios mediante el trabajo actual que realizó aun puedo saber como desarrolla este pueblo tan hermoso" ["I wanted to let you know that, thank God, the project where I am working now is helping the community plant cacao, using an agro-forestry system; and another NGO, ACDI/VOCA, is helping them manage their watersheds -- I am in constant contact with them -- and God willing, through the work that I do now, I can still keep tabs on how this beautiful little town is developing"].