After visiting Santa Rita we headed to a Precambrian rock! The Precambrian period spans between 4600 to 541 million years ago... so essentially I was walking on history - no big deal! We kind of just wandered around for a bit and took pictures, but it's something I can check off my list!! And it was wonderful to be able to see over the tops of the trees! (Granted, we weren't completely in the forest, but still being able to see over the tops of the trees is pretty neat!)
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There were a few of these mini lakes on the rocks that
were full of tadpoles, plant life and other microscopic things! |
After our quick stop on the Rock, we boarded the bus again and headed to an organization called Amazonia Sin Fuego. It's an organization that was started in Brazil that had a lot of success in teaching people how to create pastures without burning down a large part of the rain forest. In the past few years, because of Amazonia sin Fuego, Brazil's deforestation rate has dropped significantly, and because Bolivia now has one of the highest rates of deforestation, they opened a branch here!
Before I get into the ideas of Amazonia sin Fuego I think some background on the rain forest of Bolivia would be helpful! Bolivia has four major zones: wetlands, tropical forests, Andean highland grasslands and savannas. Bolivia is about the size of Texas and California combined and of all the land in Bolivia about 54% of it is tropical forest, the Amazon Rainforest to be exact; which also happen to be one of the most diverse forests in the entire world! It has more bird and bug species than all of Europe and over 17,000 different species of plants! To give you some perspective, there are more ant species in ONE tree in the rain forest than in all of the United Kingdom. The problem is that many people don't realize the diversity and amount of oxygen that the forest gives us, so if it's in the way of a planned field, then people burn it down to grow their crops, others build saw mills to cut down the trees to send to the US to make furniture and still others clear out the forest for no reason. The effect of these hundreds of thousands of hectares of jungle being cleared is that all those different species are affected, and many have been, or will be lost. But interestingly enough, rubber tappers do not harm the rubber trees, so that's completely legal! It's the trucks and people that enter the forest to take out the rubber that harm the forest... who knew?! Also, small scale farmers and indigenous groups that live in the forest are not the ones causing the drop in biodiversity, it is the large government approved projects that are really hurting this valuable resource. And even with 22 specific protected areas (or roughly about 20% of the total forest area) these problems still continue.
Thus, the main idea (right now) behind Amazonia sin Fuego is to teach people to rotate their livestock every few days to different sectors of pasture. This way you are able to preserve the land without burning it and it only takes 21 days after the cows have eaten all of one sector to grow back! Thus, if you leave your cows in one sector for three days, you only need to section your pasture into seven parts. Plus, cow manure is a great way to preserve the biodiversity! That being said, some areas still have to be burned to clear space for agricultural purposes in more rural areas... thus the goal isn't to completely stop burning the forest, but rather to teach people that there are other ways to interact with the rain forest. It was very interesting, and unfortunately I only took a few photos, but the ones I did take were in the one area that Amazonia sin Fuego burned, and it really makes a statement with the backdrop of the rest of the forest behind it. Also, as we wandered around we got to try this mushroom that only grows in Bolivia and it was incredible! It was very white and very plump and felt as soft as a pillow on my tongue, and well the flavor was indescribable other than the "BEST MUSHROOM I HAVE EVER TASTED!" We also had to go through some barbed wire fences, which thanks to my time in Belize, was super easy: Sideways, one leg through, bend down, other leg through, stand up! I got to teach a lot of my classmates the ways of the fences, luckily we weren't being chased by cows this time.
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The introduction to Amazonia sin Fuego
that bucket is full of pure sugar cane water, which
we all drank. It was so so so super sweet and also the
color of mud, but you don't say no to food/drink in Bolivia! |
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| Burned vs not burned |
Finally we ended the day with a charla (talk) with the leader of the OICH (Organización Indígena Chiquitana) named Don Diego. He told us more about the ideals of the Chiquitana and how they structure their government, and better yet how they have dealt with the Bolivian government throughout the years. Now, because they have an organization of most of the Chiquitana groups, the government seems to be more willing to talk to them and respect their wishes. That being said, there are still things that they ask for that can't always be granted. I think another reason why they are able to be adequately represented in the Bolivian government is because Evo Morales is president and identifies as indigenous. Thus, over the past seven years, many unrecognized indigenous groups have been recognized, many now have access to clean water and electricity, and most importantly the ability to talk and share their ideas with the government. He also talked about the ideas of Machismo and how in the Chiquitana culture Machismo seems to be dimishing with time. He told us stories of his childhood when his father would come home and beat his mother because he was told that she had worn the wrong dress or something silly and small like that, and how Don Diego, even as a little boy, thought that it was wrong. And today, the Chiquitana women are able to lead their pueblos and have high ranking positions in the OICH. For example, of the seven OICH highest ranking members, four of them our women! And, the president of Santa Rita is a woman. It was incredible to see, especially since we have been focusing so much on Andean cosmovision and ideas and in their belief systems, the women don't have nearly as much power as the men. Some groups see men and women as equals and that they are co-responsible for their families, but after visiting Isla del Sol I think that is more of a city ideal, as in the campo (countryside) the women cooked, cleaned, took care of the babies and the men and didn't do much else. So not only was Santa Cruz a drastic change of scenery, it came with a drastic change of ideals! All in all, it was truly fascinating to hear Don Diego talk, and had I not been so tired I would have loved to stay and ask him more questions, but our day was quite full with the visit to Santa Rita, the Precambrian rock, Amazonia sin Fuego and the charla with Don Diego... so I was pretty beat. So I headed back to the hotel early (which should have been named Paradise it was so beautiful) and passed out almost immediately!
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Of course, it was raining when I took the pictures, but it's
still beautiful! The dining room is under that roof and
was all open air which was wonderful!
Plus the pool!! |
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There were a bunch of hammocks in little nooks and crannies around
the hotel, as well as ALL THE PLANTS! |
To new strides in gender equality and preservation efforts,
Carly
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