In February 2021, a interval of nationwide mourning was declared in Bolivia after 34 Andean condors have been discovered useless. The pictures that circulated on social media confirmed a desolate scene in an space of the city of Laderas Norte, situated about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Tarija, the most important metropolis within the nation’s south.

In the present day, that tragedy has given rise to the primary rural/municipal protected space devoted to the conservation of this majestic chook of prey, Vultur gryphus, which is pictured on Bolivia’s coat of arms.

Quebracho and Condor Pure Reserve within the Cordillera de Laderas was created to guard this iconic South American chook and preserve a stand of white quebracho bushes (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco), a species attribute to the Chaco area, an unlimited scrubland ecosystem.

“It’s fascinating that there’s a small forest of white quebracho proper there,” mentioned Verónica Sanjinés, a lawyer with the Nativa Basis, who assisted the neighborhood in creating the protected space.

The brand new protected space

The condor tragedy was a watershed second for the neighborhood of Laderas Norte. “After we arrived on the web site, we may see the [dead] condors all over the place. There have been additionally many individuals from authorities organizations on the municipal, departmental, and nationwide ranges. There was plenty of consternation on the information,” Sanjinés mentioned.

The condors have been casualties of the battle between native farmers and the pumas (Puma concolor) that inhabit the world.

The 34 birds died after consuming bait that had been poisoned by the farmers. The latter had supposed to kill pumas that they blamed for preying on their livestock. Following the incident, residents of Laderas Norte determined to demarcate their total neighborhood, stretching over 3,296 hectares (8,145 acres) as a reserve to guard the condor and the white quebracho.

“As a consequence of the loss of life of the condors, the concept arose among the many farmers to search for a mechanism to guard these birds and in addition contribute to the neighborhood to enhance their high quality of life,” Sanjinés mentioned. “We as an establishment discovered the concept very fascinating as a result of it’s unbelievable that condors exist so near town of Tarija, barely 40 minutes away. In different nations, you need to journey for hours to see this chook.”

Sanjinés mentioned the unique proposal included a number of communities masking a mixed space of greater than 57,000 hectares (about 141,000 acres). Nonetheless, the communities couldn’t attain a consensus, and the one one which persevered with the venture was Laderas Norte. “It’s fascinating to see a neighborhood with a formidable dedication to conservation make the choice to have their total territory made right into a protected space,” Sanjinés mentioned.

The municipal regulation creating the reserve was issued on Aug. 24 this yr. It states that the target is to protect the geomorphological and panorama traits and the organic and cultural variety of the world, in addition to to preserve and preserve threatened species of outstanding worth, such because the Andean condor and its nesting and looking grounds. The regulation additionally particulars the target of “defending the one remaining forest of white quebracho within the central valley of Tarija.”

The founding doc states that neighborhood tourism will likely be promoted as a method to contribute to native and regional growth, and scientific analysis will likely be inspired. The brand new protected space may even search to preserve the world’s predominant water sources.

“It’s a neighborhood of small-scale potato and fruit producers, however the fascinating factor is that they don’t use agrochemicals. Their manufacturing is ecologically sound, which is an extra profit to the world. Additionally, it has an fascinating tourism potential, which may generate revenue for the neighborhood,” Sanjinés mentioned.

“The institution of the protected space additionally places the brakes on urbanization within the space, due to the proximity of Laderas Norte to town of Tarija. The city sprawl is advancing towards areas which can be nonetheless productive [agriculturally]. There may be plenty of land hypothesis, so this was one other argument for the creation of the protected space.”

A biodiverse space

Quebracho and Condor Pure Reserve within the Cordillera de Laderas is situated within the transition zone between the sub-Andean Tucumán-Bolivian forests and the western Cordillera, ecosystems with an amazing number of wild flora, together with bushes, shrubs and cacti.

Consultant species of the sub-Andean forest embrace palo barroso (Blepharocalyx salicifolius), laurel (Cinnamomum porphyria), Andean cedar (Cedrela lilloi), walnut (Juglans australis), tipa (Tipuana tipu) and quina colorada (Myroxylon peruiferum) amongst others. In the meantime, the inter-Andean valleys are house to the carob tree (Prosopis spp.), kiñi (Acacia macracantha), molle (Schinus molle), ceibo (Erythrina falcata) and queñua (Polylepis spp.). The slopes host jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia) and tolilla (Eupatorium bunifolium).

One attribute of this protected space is “the homogeneous patch of roughly 57 hectares [141 acres] with at the least 10,000 younger and mature white quebracho bushes,” in line with a socioenvironmental evaluation and proposal for the municipal protected space ready in 2021.

The doc states that the white quebracho deserves safety as a result of it’s the one remaining stand of those bushes within the Central Valley of Bolivia, though it’s a local species attribute of the Chaco. Bolivia’s nationwide listing of threatened plant species lists the white quebracho as susceptible as a result of fragmentation and discount of its vary.

The area’s wildlife is not any much less various. In line with the doc, species discovered right here embrace the crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), grey brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira), Geoffroy’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi), puma, big anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), collared anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla), Andean skunk (Conepatus chinga), jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), ring-tailed coati (Nasua nasua), jaguar (Panthera onca), and Andean condor, amongst others.

“The condor, with its standing as an iconic and consultant species, in addition to being clearly threatened, serves as a lever for conservation and the creation of a protected space,” mentioned Diego Méndez, director of the Bolivian Raptor Analysis Program.

Méndez mentioned the conservation of the Andean condor is complicated, as a result of chook’s means to journey nice distances. That makes your complete span of a protected space just like the newly created reserve solely a fraction of the world utilized by a condor. “The reserve is fully throughout the condor’s vary, but it surely’s a precedence to do extra analysis throughout the reserve to discover if there are nests or roosts, in addition to see how usually condors feed within the space,” Méndez mentioned.

He added he believes the native inhabitants’s dedication to the creation of the protected space and the conservation of the condor may imply that poisoning incidents just like the one which occurred in 2021 won’t ever occur once more, at the least throughout the reserve.

Méndez additionally mentioned the world’s location within the transition zone between the dry and semiarid ecosystems of the inter-Andean valleys and the Tucumán-Bolivian forest makes it an fascinating zone from an ecological perspective, with the presence of maybe 200-300 species of birds. “There is a vital variety in a comparatively unaltered place, the place there are additionally mammals similar to taruca [Hippocamelus antisensis], an Andean deer, which may be very threatened by looking.”

Renzo Paladines, director of conservation at Nature and Tradition Worldwide (NCI), which supported the hassle to create the character reserve, mentioned that from a purely organic perspective, this protected space “is small for a species that may journey 100 kilometers [60 miles] a day.” Nonetheless, Paladines mentioned Quebracho and Condor Pure Reserve within the Cordillera de Laderas is symbolic as a result of it was a direct response to an environmental tragedy. “That 34 condors died poisoned by consuming a single animal carcass is horrible. Contemplating that there are solely 60 condors in Colombia, [the event in Bolivia was] like half of the condor inhabitants of Colombia or a 3rd of the condor inhabitants of Ecuador dying. A tragedy,” he mentioned.

Paladines additionally mentioned Laderas Norte’s dedication to creating the reserve is a assure of the world’s conservation. The realm is also expanded sooner or later. “That’s the brand new purpose, to create your complete space, which was initially 57,000 hectares,” Paladines mentioned.

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This article by Yvette Sierra Praeli was first revealed by Mongabay.com on 13 December 2023 | Translated by Megan Morrissey. Lead Picture: An Andean condor flying over the protected space, courtesy of the Nativa Basis.