Community Tourism and Indigenous Territory Defense: The Case of San Miguel del Bala in the Bolivian Amazon

Abstract

Summary In Bolivia, the Madidi National Park is home to the Tacana Indigenous Community “San Miguel del Bala,” which, within the framework of the plurinational process, obtained its title as a Community Territory of Origin in 2021. Concurrently, during the 1990s, the government began establishing the first protected areas, adopting regulations with a primary focus on biodiversity conservation. In some cases, this led to restrictions and limitations on economic and subsistence activities rooted in ancestral practices. Community-based tourism, implemented by San Miguel del Bala, emerged as one of the few possibilities to alleviate and address these restrictions. Simultaneously, it became a means of revaluing the culture. The overlapping of San Miguel del Bala as a Community Territory of Origin and a protected area involves constitutional rights for shared management, a process that currently has several limitations. Adding to this complex situation is the entrance of extractive projects that contradict conservation regulations and the rights of prior consultation with indigenous populations regarding resource exploitation. As a result, they pose threats to the lives, cultures, and territories of the Tacana. In this context, the development of indigenous community tourism is transforming into a strategy for the defense of ancestral Indigenous territory. Information © The Authors 2024