Asociación para la Conservación, Investigación de la Biodiversidad y el Desarrollo Sostenible

Savia Bolivia — formally the Asociación para la Conservación, Investigación de la Biodiversidad y el Desarrollo Sostenible — is a Bolivian non-governmental organization dedicated to the protection of biodiversity and the strengthening of local communities. Operating under the public-facing name Savia Bolivia, the organization describes itself as committed to the defence of life in all its forms and has worked since 2003 on the integral protection of biodiversity and the reinforcement of local governance, promoting harmonious coexistence between communities and nature. The organization's stated mission is to contribute to the protection and integral management of biological diversity based on local participation and governance. Its vision is the implementation of systems for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and its means of livelihood, both inside and outside protected areas. Savia Bolivia frames environmental change as beginning with respect, active participation and collective action from the territories themselves. Savia Bolivia's work is concentrated in Bolivia's protected areas, with a strong emphasis on the Kaa Iya National Park and the ANMI Kaa Iya in the Gran Chaco region, as well as on the Guaraní and Ayoreo indigenous communities of the Chaco. Its activities combine biodiversity conservation, community development and environmental education. The organization has produced and published documentary and educational video material on themes including the Kaa Iya park, jaguar conservation, Guaraní cultural traditions such as the Arete Guasu festival, and the training of indigenous environmental promoters or 'multiplicadores ambientales'. It has also raised public concern about threats to protected areas, including mining and desertification affecting Kaa Iya. As an association, Savia Bolivia is a private, non-profit civil society organization rather than a commercial company. It works with local communities, indigenous groups and conservation consortia, and its public communications emphasize values of honesty, tolerance, transparency, solidarity and respect for all living beings, placing collective interest above personal interest. The organization also expresses deep concern over the loss of biodiversity and the high degree of threat facing indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation (PIACI).

Savia Bolivia, formally the Asociación para la Conservación, Investigación de la Biodiversidad y el Desarrollo Sostenible, states that it has worked since 2003 for the integral protection of biodiversity and the strengthening of local governance in Bolivia. Its public materials describe more than twenty years of activity promoting responsible management of ecosystems, sustainable development and the protection of biodiversity in the country's protected areas. The organization's work has centred on Bolivia's protected areas, particularly the Kaa Iya National Park and the ANMI Kaa Iya in the Gran Chaco, an area of great biological and cultural importance. Over the years Savia Bolivia has combined conservation action with community engagement, working alongside Guaraní and Ayoreo communities and supporting indigenous environmental promoters, known as 'multiplicadores ambientales'. Its activities have included training workshops, exchanges of experience among indigenous women leaders within the TICCA consortium, and the production of documentary and educational videos on the Kaa Iya park, jaguar and guanaco fauna, and Guaraní cultural traditions such as the Arete Guasu festival. The organization has also taken a public advocacy stance on threats to protected areas. Its published video material includes titles warning of risks to Bolivia's protected areas and specifically calling for the protection of Kaa Iya National Park from mining and desertification. Savia Bolivia expresses particular concern about the loss of biodiversity and the high degree of threat facing indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation (PIACI). As of its public communications, Savia Bolivia continues to operate as a Bolivian non-governmental organization, pursuing its mission of contributing to the protection and integral management of biological diversity through local participation and governance, and its vision of conservation and sustainable use systems inside and outside protected areas.

• 2003

  Savia Bolivia states that it began working for the integral protection of biodiversity and the strengthening of local governance in Bolivia.

A Bolivian civil-society conservation organization positioning itself at the intersection of biodiversity protection, indigenous community governance and sustainable development in and around the country's protected areas.

1. 1Savia Bolivia – Biodiversidad, Conservación y Desarrollo Sosteniblesaviabolivia.org
2. 2¿Quiénes somos? – Savia Boliviasaviabolivia.org
3. 3Wikidata Q136453027wikidata.org