In the far southeast of Bolivia, the cloud forest of the Tariquía reserve is accessible only by a few dirt paths that quickly become impassable with heavy rain. Local people say that, not so long ago, it could be a two-day horse ride just to communicate with the outside world.
That remoteness helped preserve Tariquía. But this protected area is now the frontline for Bolivia’s extractive activities, as the leftist government of Luis Arce scours the country for gas reserves that could keep its fossil-fuel model of development running – whether or not communities welcome drilling.
“[Exploitation of] Tariquía was inevitable with the continuation of that [extractivist] model,” says Dr Penelope Anthias, a Durham University geographer who has worked in the reserve. “Protected areas are the new extractive frontier.”
