A big forest in japanese Bolivia is on the verge of being offered to a global agriculture firm, elevating considerations that it is likely to be razed to make room for brand new cropland.
The 30,019-hectare (74,179-acre) plot in Bolivia’s northeastern Chiquitano dry forest has been sustainably managed for years. However now the land is on the verge of being offered to a Brazilian agribusiness agency, undercutting makes an attempt by an environmental group that needed to purchase the land first, in keeping with paperwork obtained by Mongabay.
“[The Chiquitano is] a essential hyperlink between crucial biomes, and it’s one of many final strong blocks of forest in the entire space,” stated James Johnson, a forestry marketing consultant in Santa Cruz, the division the place the property is positioned.
Masking about 24 million hectares (59 million acres), the Chiquitano dry forest connects the Amazon Rainforest with the Gran Chaco and Cerrado savannas. It acts as a hall for wildlife within the completely different biomes.
Over the past decade, the realm has suffered a number of the worst deforestation on the continent, with agribusiness destroying hundreds of thousands of hectares.
Clearing the 30,019-hectare plot, which is about thrice the scale of town of Paris, would characterize a big ecological loss and speed up the degradation and desertification of close by Indigenous lands, a number of individuals advised Mongabay.
“What they wish to do is change the land use [on the property],” stated Juan Carlos Laura, of the Indigenous Peoples Help Basis–Jenecheru, which works on authorized issues with communities within the space. “By altering the land use of 30,000 hectares, they may instantly have an effect on Indigenous territories, as a result of the Chiquitanía space in Bolivia is a transition zone,” he stated.
A failed land deal
For the reason that mid-2000s, the plot has been managed by Dutch wooden flooring producer INPA Parket. The corporate practiced selective logging of native hardwoods like Bolivian rosewood (Machaerium scleroxylon) whereas additionally serving to Indigenous communities with comparable practices, in keeping with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) filings.
INPA entities have held quite a few FSC certifications for sustainable work on the property. However in recent times, a lot of them have expired.
Paul Roosenboom, who manages the corporate’s forest and sawmill, advised Mongabay that he’s been engaged on the land for round 20 years however doesn’t have the sources to handle it anymore, one motive they determined to promote it.
“That is the most suitable choice for me,” he stated.
This 12 months, the corporate was in talks to promote the land to Amazonas For Life Europe AB, a Swedish group that invests in sustainable agroforestry initiatives. The sale had the backing of Rabobank, Make investments Worldwide and the Netherlands Growth Finance Firm, in keeping with inside emails reviewed by Mongabay.
Dutch authorities officers helped facilitate the financing discussions, and had beforehand labored with INPA by the Programme for Financial Cooperation in Creating International locations, a spokesperson confirmed.
Collectively, the organizations had been contemplating conserving the property with cashew bushes (Anacardium occidentale) and baru nut bushes (Dipteryx alata), and promoting carbon credit by way of Carbon Financial institution, part of Rabobank.
The carbon credit would have been value round $30 million over 10 years. Complete financing for the land buy amounted to round $26.1 million, in keeping with the emails.
In a remark to Mongabay, a Rabobank spokesperson stated the financial institution is dedicated to supporting efforts to develop agricultural manufacturing sustainably, with out increasing land use. The opposite monetary entities concerned within the deal declined to remark or hadn’t responded by the point this text was revealed.
The land acquisition had the potential to create clear, traceable agroforestry merchandise according to worldwide commerce requirements, Amazonas For Life Europe AB founder Helena Lindemark argued within the emails. She additionally famous advantages to the Dutch financial system, together with utilizing Dutch suppliers for forestry tools and routing agroforestry merchandise by the Netherlands.
However in July, a Dutch authorities official stated in the identical e-mail thread that INPA had agreed to promote to Bom Futuro, a significant producer of cotton, soy, corn and beef. The preliminary sale worth was round $20 million, with a $2 million down fee that had already been deposited, in keeping with the emails.
An INPA consultant had advised him Bom Futuro want to reduce down two-thirds of the forest for agriculture, and {that a} due diligence course of was underway, the official stated in an e-mail.
“The sudden sale to Bom Futuru [sic] is a slap within the face for Amazonas For Life,” the official stated.
Bom Futuro didn’t reply to a request for remark for this story.
Countermeasures
After the sale fell by for Amazonas For Life Europe AB, Lindemark used her different group, the 2022 Initiative Basis, to assist increase funds for a authorized problem by the Lomerío and Monte Verde Indigenous teams, who stay close to the property.
The teams stated they’re frightened about deforestation and soil and water contamination from agrochemicals.
“We specific our deep concern and rejection of the rising threats of land-use change in properties adjoining to our territory, particularly within the property referred to as INPA, which is meant to be transformed from sustainable use to an space of in depth monoculture planting,” stated an August joint assertion from the Central Indigenous Group of Authentic Communities of Lomerío (CICOL) and the Group of Indigenous Monkox Girls of Lomerío.
With authorized help from the Jenecherú Basis, CICOL is contemplating submitting a petition with Bolivia’s forest and land regulator, the ABT, asking it to acknowledge the INPA forest as protected land and halt all land-use modifications involving monoculture farming.
The group can also be trying into requesting {that a} 2020 authorization to partially clear the property be revoked, arguing that it contradicts a earlier court docket ruling to maintain the forest standing.
Ought to the sale undergo, Bom Futuro wouldn’t be capable of legally clear the property immediately. It could have to obtain approval from ABT and the Santa Cruz authorities. Nonetheless, conservation teams stated the legal guidelines are not often enforced, so there’s a have to battle for these further protections.
“[Losing the INPA forest] would speed up degradation and drought throughout Chiquitanía and past,” Lindemark advised Mongabay. “But it surely’s not too late to behave.”
This article by Maxwell Radwin was first revealed by Mongabay on 20 November 2025. Lead Picture: A maned wolf (Chrysocyon Brachyurus). Picture courtesy of Wikimedia.
