Ñembi Guasu protects 1.2 million ha of the highly threatened Gran Chaco, the fastest disappearing forest on the planet. Credit: Charlotte Beckham/WLT
Bolivia recently faced its worst fire season in over 20 years. According to official figures, more than 7 million hectares have been destroyed in 2024 alone. But thanks to a coordinated and well-planned effort, the Ñembi Guasu Conservation and Ecological Importance Area has been protected from the fires.
Established by Guaraní’s Charagua Iyambae Rural Indigenous Autonomous Government (GAIOC), with support from our partner Nativa, Ñembi Guasu is a 1.2 million hectare Conservation Area in Bolivia’s Gran Chaco region. It protects one of the most threatened areas of the Bolivian Chaco, while also maintaining land for the Indigenous Guaraní and Ayoreo peoples.
World Land Trust partnered with Nativa in 2018 to support their work with GAIOC to legally recognise Ñembi Guasu. In the years since, continued support from WLT has gone towards funding rangers, funding for fire management training and resources, and supporting the reserve’s operational base which serves as a meeting point for park rangers and firefighters. All of this has contributed to the successful efforts to defend the reserve from 2024’s unprecedented fire season.
Supported through WLT funding, Ñembi Guasu’s operational base is used for meetings and gatherings. Credit: Charlotte Beckham/WLT
Despite being surrounded by fires, Ñembi Guasu has escaped the destruction with efficient management, planning and collaboration. Planning started more than five months ago when the first fire alerts began around Bolivia, and the rapid response from rangers and local communities kept the area safe when the fires started to approach. Strategic firebreaks were set up to defend the area and the team utilised techniques from years of training along with technical advice from experts and ancestral knowledge from the people who live in the area.
These measures have helped Nativa and an incredible team of local actors to fight the fires before they had the opportunity to grow and spread.
This victory means even more when we look back to the events of 2019, when over 450,000 hectares of Ñembi Guasu were burned. It was a devastating loss for the region, but also an opportunity to learn and prepare for future forest fires – an inevitable threat given the current climate crisis.
Since 2019, Nativa Bolivia has been monitoring the landscape and some of the burned areas have been showing signs of regeneration. Now, thanks to the efforts of everyone involved in fighting the recent fires, and the generosity of WLT supporters, Ñembi Guasu can continue its recovery.
Some areas destroyed by 2019’s fires are recovering. Credit: Nativa
Iván Arnold, Director of Nativa Bolivia, says “without your support it would not have been possible to tell this success story after a fire season as disastrous as the one we have just suffered in Bolivia. In addition to being very good news, the most important thing is that this learning helps us envision a path that can be replicated in other regions of Bolivia and the Greater Chaco Pantanal Landscape.”
If you would like to learn more about Ñembi Guasu and the forest fires in Bolivia, you can read this recent article with Nomads Magazine.
