Bolivia’s National Parks Set to Endure Oil and Gas Endeavours  

South America has found itself in the centre of the environmental spotlight as Bolivia approves new laws that will permit hydrocarbons operations in “protected areas” such as national parks. Across the globe the controversial new ruling has sparked major concerns that both Bolivia’s people, and its natural ecosystems will suffer.

Located in north-west Bolivia, Madidi National Park is renowned as one of the world’s most biodiverse places. In fact, according to Bolivia’s park service (SERNAP) and the US Wildlife Conservation Society, it’s home to a huge 11% of the planet’s bird species. Yet despite its environmental value, Bolivia is allowing 75% of the park’s 1.8 million hectares to be overlapped with oil and gas concessions.

An ambiguous idea of "protected" 

Now, Bolivia’s “protected areas” are set to come under further threat as the government introduces a new policy that will open up even more opportunities to oil and gas companies.  The plan encompasses over 20 million hectares across the nation, with contracts officially permitting “the development of hydrocarbon exploration activities in the different zones and categories within protected areas.” It also outlines actions that should be taken if companies make “commercially-viable discoveries” that they plan to exploit.

So why has Bolivia given the go ahead on such a controversial law? According to the government opening up the country’s parks to oil and gas companies will help to fight poverty and contribute to national development. But is it worth risking the prosperity of its fragile ecosystems?

Eco experts not impressed

Carmen Capriles, a representative from grassroots organisation Reaccion Climatica maintains that the new laws are “really worrying” and could have potentially “devastating” impacts. “This is absolutely not the kind of policy we expected from president Morales after such big speeches and discourses about Mother Earth and Pachamama and how we should start living in harmony with her,” he says. “What we have seen in these nine or 10 years of government is that our natural resources and our forests - the richness of Bolivia - has been depleted much more than any other period of time.”

Many have criticised the laws for being misleading, with just 1% of exploration profits set to be invested back into the protected areas. Teresa Flores, an independent environmentalist and former PRODENA employee agrees, saying “There’s an idea that this government is progressive in defending Mother Earth. It’s totally to the contrary. That’s totally false. This government is destroying the environment more than any other. The only interest is to exploit natural resources as quickly as possible.”

Should any exploration projects go ahead they’ll undoubtedly be subject to stringent environmental legislations. In the article ‘Mud Logging Contractor’s Flare Gas Emissions Monitoring Requirements are Met with Help from Thermal Mass Flow Meter’ authors explore how engineers utilise the surface logging process to determine the correct drilling direction and depth when commissioning new wells.