Bartering for conservation

Press, 29 July 1987, Page 20

Bartering for conservation

Environmentalists, bankers, and the Bolivian Government have come up with an intriguing idea. Conservation International, a non-profit organisation based in Washington and just six months, old, has engineered a deal whereby the Bolivians are, in effect, forgiven a small slice of their SUS 2.6 billion foreign debt in return for their commitment to save a chunk of Amazonian rain-forest from indiscriminate slash-and-burn by hungry developers. With a grant of SUSIOO,OOO from a Californian foundation, and with Citicorp acting as its

agent, Conservation International has bought $U5650,000-worth of the debt at a discount rate of 15 cents to the dollar (the market rate fluctuates between 7 cents and 25 cents). In return the Bolivian Government has promised to conserve 4 million acres of forest and savannah in the Andean foothills of north-east Bolivia and to set up an endowment fund, in local currency, for its administration, protection and long-term development. The area is exceptionally rich in animals, birds and plants: it is home for jaguar, wolves, wild boar and some 500 species of

birds which share the forest with 250 families of Chimane Indians, a nomadic tribe. The Bolivian Government remains in control of its land, with the American organisation acting as an adviser only. Conservation International, half of whose staff are non-American, has a pragmatic approach towards the need to mix conservation with economic development in third-world countries. It is aware that the Bolivian deal will make only the tiniest dent in that country’s foreign debt. Copyright — The Economist