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When the Jungle Plays Host to Tourists |
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By José Luis Alcázar *
Indigenous communities are managing more and more tourism projects in Bolivia. Thousands of visitors arrive each year at the jungle lodges like Chalalán, in Madidi National Park.
TARIJA, Bolivia - "In Chalalán, the jungle is your host, and we are your guides. All you have to do is leave the city behind and prepare for the great experience of another world." This is the slogan of one of the most successful tourism projects run by indigenous peoples in Bolivia.
Chalalán is an inn with the capacity for some 30 people, located in the indigenous community of San José de Uchupiamonas, founded in 1716 by Catholic Franciscan missionaries, inside what is today the Madidi National Park, 400 km north of La Paz.
Created 10 years ago and home to some 120 families -- 600 people -- of Tacana, Esse-eja and Mosetén origins, with a strong Quechua influence, Madidi stands out as one of the 20 most preferred ecotourism destinations in the world.
Supported by the organization Conservation International and the Inter-American Development Bank, the indigenous peoples of San José de Uchupiamonas have managed a tourism program since 2001 whose core is the Chalalán Lodge and which, through other initiatives, reinforces the local economy's agriculture and artisan sectors.
Six communities of Moseténs and Tsimane (400 inhabitants) own another successful lodge, the Mapajo, on the Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve, in the northern department of Beni, one of the Amazon region's riches regions in terms of biodiversity.
The Mapajo Lodge was sponsored by Conservation International, the United Nations Development Program, the Regional Support Program for Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin and donor agencies from Canada, United States, France and Britain.
Lina Zambrana, manager of the Hotel Mapajo, explained that the financial resources of this center, also operating since 2001, go towards paying hotel staff salaries and to the development of agricultural projects and of services for the communities.
Like Chalalán, the services of this lodge and others managed by the indigenous groups cost a bit more than those offered by traditional tourism destinations.
Some 37,000 tourists visit Chalalán and Mapajo each year. Mostly Europeans and North Americans, the visitors take part in adventure outings and enjoying the natural surroundings, the flora and fauna, and cultural, farming and crafts events organized by the local residents.
Bolivia is one of the few Latin American countries working to promote this type of tourism, dubbed "ethno-ecotourism".
"Ethno-ecotourism is being developed to rescue from extreme poverty the peasant-farming indigenous peoples, improve their quality of life, preserve their culture and customs, and conserve the special relationship they have with nature," Bolivian Karen de Wachtel, creator of this approach, told Tierramérica.
With a degree in tourism management, Wachtel served as deputy minister for this portfolio from 1993 to 1997. In 1994 she achieved the recognition and incorporation of "ethno-ecotourism" in the country's laws and regulations.
Under the ethno-ecotourism model, the indigenous peoples are owners of the lodges and are the decision-makers for the activities to be developed, but they coordinate the sale of travel packages with national and international tourism agencies.
An estimated 400,000 tourists visit Bolivia each year, bringing in around 180 million dollars, or at least 5.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). These figures could reach one million tourists a year and 500 million dollars, not counting the 500,000 tourists from with the country itself, says expert Omar Quiroga Antelo.
The indigenous communities, which are found along the main tourist routes, could be essential in the development of this sector. According to inventories of Bolivian tourism, 34 native groups are found in the areas that visitors prefer. The western region and the valleys are home to the largest indigenous cultures, the Quechua and Aymara. In the east and south, are the indigenous groups of the Amazon and the Chaco.
Bolivia has 1,340 tourist destinations in 33 protected areas and 30,000 archeological sites.
Additional tourism programs run by indigenous peoples are now being developed in the Noel Kempff Mercado and Amboro parks, in the central department of Santa Cruz, and on three reserves: Carrasco (Cochabamba), Sajama (Oruro) and Salar (Uyuni).
There are also projects along Lake Titicaca, the world's highest lake at 3,800 meters above sea level; in the Aguarague National Park and the Chaco region.
* José Luis Alcázar is a Tierramérica contributor.
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