| 17/11/2005
- Santa Cruz, Bolivia – Plans for the construction of a
commercial port and railway access line crossing Bolivia's
Otuquis National Park — a protected area and Ramsar site
located in the heart of the world’s largest wetland area,
the Pantanal — must be radically restructured so that it
doesn't cause irreparable environmental damage and economic
losses, warns WWF. The proposal
from the Bolivian Railway-Port Society, and backed by
sectors of the Bolivian government, considers opening
a port at the mouth of the Bolivian shore of Paraguay
River to link landlocked Bolivia to the Atlantic Ocean
as a national priority. However, the plans are seriously
flawed according to a report published by WWF Bolivia,
the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the New
Zealand Crop and Food Research Institute.
“If Puerto Busch goes ahead, one of
the most species-rich wetlands in the world will be threatened,”
said the report's scientific coordinator, Stephan Halloy.
“We could see another costly ruin
scarring the landscape, just like in the 1970s when a
previous port and elevated road in the same region were
swamped by floods leaving it unuseable. The port and railway
embankment will obstruct natural waterflows and disrupt
the movement of endangered species, drying out some wetlands
while increasing flooding in other areas.”
The Puerto Busch Study: Options for
the location of a sovereign port for on the Paraguay-Paraná
River System, shows that the plan to construct the multi-million
dollar port is based upon a flawed Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA), which was officially approved last December.
For example, the EIA and the design ignore the fact that
water levels in the region can rise close to five meters
above ground level, which would flood the prospective
railway link and render the port useless. The study proposes
an alternative location for the port at the Cáceres-Tamengo
river System, which is also part of the Paraguay-Paraná
System and runs into the Atlantic.
"This site minimizes the impact
on the environment while also offering a better investment
opportunity," said Roger Landivar, WWF Bolivia's
country representative.
As a result of the dissemination of
the study since October, WWF has been formally asked to
close its field office in the ecoregion, located in the
municipality of Puerto Suárez, as well as cease
activities there. This municipality covers approximately
24 per cent of the Bolivian Pantanal ecoregion. However,
WWF Bolivia’s Pantanal Program will continue working within
the municipalities of San Matías and Puerto Quijarro. |
