School of Geography and the Environment

Biodiversity conservation is a biological and social process. It is also an economic, financial, political and cultural process especially in developing nations, often characterized by being the richest regions in biodiversity but also the poorest economically. Paradoxically, whilst biodiversity provides substantial socioeconomic benefits, these countries have not been able to integrate these resources into their development agendas and local people have often not received benefits resulting from conservation. Furthermore, biodiversity loss has increased.

This would be the case in Bolivia, which is considered amongst the richest countries in the biodiversity in the world, especially within the Tropical Andes Hotspot, recognised by scientists as the global epicentre of biodiversity on the planet. However, the country is also considered as one of the poorest nations in Latin America with indigenous communities amongst the most vulnerable groups.

The research will provide evidence from the field in order to analyse and test the real existing opportunities to integrate biodiversity into poverty alleviation discourse. It will examine the significance of biodiversity for national and local political and economic agendas under a market economy, or to the contrary, if threats to biodiversity loss, sustainability and conservation increase due to global and market driving forces within social, economic and political constrains in Bolivia.

The research project will determine if biodiversity could play a role in alleviating poverty in Bolivia under a market economy context. It will analyse if there is any scale and actors in which biodiversity and poverty alleviation are best integrated, and which market mechanisms could work to benefit biodiversity and local development under current institutions and frameworks.

The study will be focused at the conservation corridor in Bolivia, which is part of the Tropical Andes hotspot and one of the regions with greater participation of indigenous communities in biodiversity-based initiatives and local politics. Thus it will identify if there are any micro and macroeconomic relationships and those experiences engaged with markets, business initiatives and decision-making processes conducted jointly by local governments, communities and international organisations.