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Speaker:  Dr Bernardo Peredo, Honorary Research Associate, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

Bolivia is one of the most forested countries in the world with a significant diversity of ecosystems and biological diversity. The country is also one of the least polluting countries in the world, partly due to its few industries and low population density; however, deforestation rates and forest degradation has been increasing since the mid 1990s during the implementation of structural adjustment programmes. With a new political and economic process in place since the mid-2000s, Bolivia has been at the forefront of international platforms to integrate nature rights into narratives and constitutional and policy frameworks. Thus natural resources are becoming a priority in the present state-led development agenda. Nonetheless, other challenges may arise to forest conservation due to current state-development projects in the extractive, energy, infrastructure and energy sectors.

Bernardo Peredo-Videa (Green Templeton College) holds a DPhil Degree from the School of Geography and the Environment at Oxford University. His thesis “Forest Governance and Local Development: Meandering Paradigms in the Bolivian Lowlands” was developed under the supervision of Prof Diana Liverman and Dr Tom Thornton. He holds an MSc Degree in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the School of Geography and the Environment and a Master’s Degree in Business and Environmental Management (Costa Rica). He also holds Diplomas on Social Sciences from the Said Business School and on Environmental Leadership and Communication from the Smithsonian Institution.

Bernardo is an Honorary Research Associate at the Environmental Change Institute for a research project developed with Dr Tom Thornton on Aboriginal Tourism and Sustainable Enterprises funded by the Said Business School. Such research, which received additional support from the National Science Foundation, was conducted in six countries, including Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, the US (Alaska) and Canada.

Bernardo worked as a consultant to different international organisations, including CIFOR, UNDP, CIDA, Conservation International, the Swiss Intercooperation, IUCN-CENESTA,  the Organisation of American States and the Global Environmental Facility, amongst other Bolivian organizations. He was also the Director of the Programme in Support of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon (PRAIA) led by IFAD and the Andean Development Corporation.