Salud planetaria en la Amazonia boliviana – Blog

noviembre 1, 2024

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In the last twenty years, Bolivia has lost the 12% of forest cover that it had at the beginning of the century. However, the impact this change has had on communities and the environment has not been well studied.

[De enero a junio de 2024, Shannon O’Brien, en ese momento técnica de ISGlobal, viajó a Riberalta (Bolivia) para investigar el impacto de la deforestación en la salud humana e implementar un curso, junto con socios locales, sobre Salud planetaria en la Universidad Autónoma del Beni – José Ballivián (UAB-JB).]

He had nothing more than a rope (cut from what appeared to be a market bag) around his feet. Observe in amazement how It went up more than 20 meters. by an increasingly thinner trunk, until it almost disappears in the crown. In a matter of minutes he had reached the top, where he clung to the tree with one arm and, with the other, deftly severed two swollen açaí branches. Conquest in hand, he glided back and in seconds his feet landed softly on the leaf-carpeted earth. It was one of our hosts.

It was June 2024 and I found myself in the Bolivian Amazon, carrying out a project jointly coordinated by ISGlobal and Medicus Mundi Mediterráneo (MMMed). Together with local partners, he was helping to implement a planetary health course at the UAB-JB, in addition to investigating the impact that the deforestation of the Bolivian Amazon (which covers about half of the country’s surface) has had on the health of the population.

From left to right and from top to bottom: 1. Morning view of Lake Tumichucua. 2. Harvesting the açaí. 3. Freddy Beyuma Piluy and Edward Flores Villanueva explaining some of the properties of Amazonian plants. 4. The “chestnut” or “almond”, also known as the Brazil nut outside of Bolivia. 5. Jaime Antonio Cortez Vallejo during the visit to the community of Santa María, with Jimena Isabel Clavijo Velarde and Alcira Justiniano Dorado (engineer with iiFA) in the background. Photos: Shannon O’Brien.

But what is planetary health and why is it important?

To answer this question, we reflect on the development that human beings have experienced during the last century. Altogether (although millions of people still live in the extreme poverty), we have improved: more people are literate, life expectancy has increased, the infant mortality rate has decreased, etc.

Let’s now think about our planet during this same period of time. If we consider it like a patientwhose diseases are the problems it faces, we can see that our home over the last century has been getting sicker and sicker: the sea is losing exponential amounts of marine life, corals are bleaching, Wildlife populations have declined by 70% in 50 years.glaciers are melting, rivers are drying up… the list goes on and on.

How is it possible for us to gain health while our planet is getting sick?

So, how is it possible for us to gain health while our planet is getting sick? The concept of planetary health arises from this paradox: it maintains that We have improved human development AT THE COST of the environment.and that we are reaching a point of no return in terms of environmental degradation, where our planet will no longer be able to support such growth. In other words, We are taking the health of future generations to make progress in the present.

We were there to learn

It was for planetary health that I visited the community of Santa María on the outskirts of Riberalta on a hot and humid day in June. Since converting forests into pasture for livestock generates 60% of deforestation of the country (agriculture represents another 30%), we were there to learn how the community manage your forest sustainably and achieves economic benefits without burning it. For example, it harvests and processes tropical fruits such as açaí, as well as other superfoods such as the Brazil nut (locally called almond or chestnut), which require intact, healthy forests to survive.

Converting forests into pasture for livestock generates 60% of the country’s deforestation

This is not a minor issue, since Bolivia lead global exports of Brazil nuts, ahead of Brazil (which gives it its name), with more than double the kilos exported. The community of Santa María knows it. Therefore, one of their leaders (and our main guide that day), Freddy Beyuma PiluyHe states: “What we have to do is take care of our plots, not damage them because we live off the chestnut, it is our treasure, from here, from us. If we cut down a tree it means that we do not love this plant, but we must plant, we must reforest. “In this way we are benefiting from nature.”

From left to right and top to bottom: 1. Course participants with some members of the Santa María Community. 2. Jimena Isabel Clavijo Velarde interviewing Freddy Beyuma Piluy about his sustainable management of his forest. 3. Presentation during the first course in Planetary Health at the UAB-JB. 4. Dr. Carlos Arturo Mariscal, from the UAB-JB, teaching a course in Research Methodology. Photos: Shannon O’Brien.

Living in solidarity with the planet

The visit to the community was the culmination of three months of theoretical sessions that, together with my main partner in the country, the researcher of the Bolivian Amazon Vincent Voswe had directed in order to train university professors and local professionals on topics related to planetary health. By bringing together program coordinators, health workers and forest management experts, the course served as a platform to share and leverage the knowledge and experiences that participants already possessed, and expand competencies in the intersectional framework of health. . planetary.

A participant, Jaime Antonio Cortez Vallejo (industrial engineer and researcher Amazon Forest Research Institute or iiFA), highlights the importance of the course: “It is clear that we have to work on what is called the planetary limits, that we should not exceed them because we would already be entering an irreversible world as we know it.”

While the consumption of animal products increases…

For another participant, Jimena Isabel Clavijo Velarde (nutrition technician at Medicus Mundi Riberalta): “For me it has been and is a very important course. Man has to take care of the planet because it is the only one he has. So we have to learn to live in solidarity with it, eat a slightly more diversified diet, moderate the consumption of animal foods, because if the consumption of animals increases, the felling of trees also increases, the agricultural frontier expands and we are contributing to the deforestation».

In 2024, Bolivia experienced forest fires that are on track to become the most devastating in its history. It is estimated that up to 40% of the country’s forests have burned. Almost all of these fires would have their origin in human activities to clear land for livestock and agriculture.

For these reasons, for ISGlobal and MMMed it is imperative to strengthen capacities in the Bolivian Amazon through programs like this planetary health one. Today, protecting the Amazon is more important than ever: in 2024 Bolivia experienced forest fires that are on track to become the most devastating in its history. It is estimated that they would have burned until 40% of the country’s forests. Almost all of these fires would have their origin in human activities to clear land for livestock and agriculture.

Therefore, expanding education and research on planetary health in the Amazon is a key way to support those who suffer the most from the effects of this devastation and are best positioned to combat it. Jimena continues: “All this knowledge that we have acquired allows us to envision future projects and implement them better with more capabilities to be able to influence public policies.”

In short, we must insist on defending one of the main ideas of planetary health: that Our actions should not only seek beneficiaries from the current human population.but also be aligned with the protection of the well-being of human, plant and animal populations for future generations.

The seeds we plant today

A scene exemplified this very well during our visit to Santa María. Yolanda Lopez Ochoadoctor from the 07 Riberalta Health Network, asked why they did not plant seeds.

-“It can be done,” responded Edward Flores Villanueva, iiFA technician. “But they took a long time to grow.”

-“Yes,” said Yolanda, “but if you plant it now, your grandchildren can reap it.”

This is how we should live now: thinking about how the “seeds” we “plant” today promote the “harvest” of the world we want for our grandchildren in the future.