Safeguarding Planetary Health in the Bolivian Amazon: A Call to Action Against Deforestation

The Bolivian Amazon is being deforested at an unprecedented rate, faster than in other South American countries. Agricultural expansion and mining are degrading the region and stripping it of forests. But the impact is not only environmental — it also affects the health of thousands of people, especially in Indigenous and rural communities, who are now exposed to diseases they were previously shielded from, and who are suffering the effects of increasing air and water pollution.

This policy brief highlights this crucial link between health and the environment, from the Planetary Health perspective.

The document, written by Marta Mascareñas, Shannon O’Brien, Marina Pérez, Madiha Shekhani and Paula Alonso, analyzes the situation and offers recommendations for governments and international actors to take action before it’s too late. It is based on findings from the initiative “Planetary Health: challenges and opportunities in the Northern Bolivian Amazon.” This is a collaboration between Medicus Mundi Mediterrània (MMMed), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and the following Bolivian institutions: the José Ballivián Autonomous University of Beni (UAB-JB), the Center for Research and Promotion of the Peasantry (CIPCA), the Amazon Forest Research Institute (IIFA), and the Riberalta Health Services Network 07 of the Ministry of Public Health. It is funded by the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) and the Government of Catalonia.

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