Deforestation and Environmental Justice in Indigenous Bolivia: A Gender-Based Approach to Risk Assessment and Mitigation Efforts in the Chiquitano Forest

Abstract

The proliferation of environmental disruptions and extractive industries in the Bolivian Amazon are having drastic effects on the forested ecosystems of the region, putting additional pressures on an already disadvantaged indigenous population to negotiate dwindling resources. Industrial agriculture and cattle ranching, natural gas extraction and mining are some of the environmental pressures impacting the size and wellbeing of the Chiquitano forest, which is home to a range of indigenous groups. Indigenous women of the Chiquitano forest face the brunt of environmental challenges due to existing gender dynamics and community structures that make them responsible for resource collection and reliant on the resources most threatened in order to fulfill their community roles. Climate change only compounds this effect as drought makes forests more susceptible to fires growing out of control and more challenging for plant life and freshwater sources to survive. Through the firsthand testimony of Chiquitano indigenous members and sourced literary review, this paper seeks to examine the ways in which gender roles in Chiquitano culture uniquely positions women to bear the brunt of human-driven environmental degradation, and identifies potential solutions to both lessen such harm and more evenly distribute attention to such issues.