Protected Areas in Bolivia

Noted for its rugged and varied topography, Amboró National Park lies within three distinct ecosystems: the foothills of the Andes, the northern Chaco and the Amazon Basin. Nowhere else in the world do three such diverse environments coincide.

One of the first protected areas to be established in Bolivia, the Beni Biosphere Reserve is located at the convergence of three biogeographical zones: the Amazon, the Chaco and the Cerrado. The reserve is home to important indigenous Amazonian groups.

The Central Andean puna ecoregion is a high elevation montane grassland and shrubland in the southern high Andes, extending from southern Peru, though Bolivia, into northern Argentina. Several protected natural areas are found here.

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve is Bolivia's most visited protected area which contains a large range of landscapes that include volcanic mountain peaks, hot springs, geysers, lakes, fumaroles and windswept deserts.

Madidi National Park is located in the upper Amazon River basin of Bolivia, close to the borders of Peru and Brazil. The park is located in one of Earth's most biologically diverse regions ranging from glacier-covered Andean mountain peaks to tropical rainforests.

Home to the Aymara indigenous people, Sajama National Park is situated in Bolivia's Cordillera Occidental. It includes Nevado Sajama, an extinct stratovolcano and the highest peak in Bolivia. Its primary objective is for the protection of the native queñoa tree.

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park is one of the largest, most intact parks in the Amazon Basin and is the site of a rich mosaic of habitat types. The park boasts an evolutionary history dating back over a billion years to the Precambrian period.

The Pilón-Lajas Biosphere Reserve is located on the far eastern spur of the Andes. It comprises mixed mountain and highland systems: low hills and Amazonian plains covered with tropical humid forests, subtropical and tropical forest, forests in ancient alluvial terraces, plus mountain and valley forests.

Located in the higher parts of Bolivia, with the Peruvian border making up its western boundary, the Ulla-Ulla Biosphere Reserve contains a combination of ecological formations including high plateau, tundra, high cordillera, mountains, lakes, river headwaters and a permanent snow zone.