Bolivia is on the front-lines of climate change. It is a biologically, culturally, and topographically rich country that spans from the Amazon rainforest to the tops of the Andes mountains, making it vulnerable to flooding, fires, and melting glaciers. Here we can see first-hand the effects of a warming world across a range of ecosystems we’ll visit. We will start in the lowlands of Santa Cruz and the Chiquitano dry forests and gradually go up in elevation through the cloud forests of the Chapáre region, Cochabamba (the site of the “water wars” in 2000), the mining center of Oruro in the high plains (home to llamas and vicuñas), the other-worldly Salar de Uyuni salt flat, and the melting glaciers in the mountains around Lake Titicaca above La Paz. We will talk with indigenous activists, government officials, scientists, and many others in our effort to understand the tension between development and sustainability in the age of climate change.
In our first meeting, the 12 students and their faculty leader (Jon Grinnell) wrote the following ground rules:
- Treat all with respect: each other and those we meet
- Listen to and acknowledge each other
- Try to get to know each other
- Watch out for each other
- Be inclusive of each other; invite into a group or activity; be welcoming
- Check in daily; be honest in debriefings
We will be in Bolivia from Jan 4 to Jan 25.