An approach to the effect of climate change on domestic camelids in Bolivia

Juan José Aparicio Porres

Abstract

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in its Article 1, defines climate change as "climate change attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and adds to the natural variability of the climate observed during comparable periods of time ". The baseline developed by the PROCAMELIDOS Program under the Ministry of Rural Development and Lands (MDRyT) in 2017 allows us to know the effect of climate change in 47 municipalities in Bolivia with high productive potential in camelids. It is for this reason that the objective of the study was to establish the main causes perceived by producers to the reduction of the camelid cattle that they possess. There were surveyed 3167 families producing camelids belonging to the departments of La Paz, Oruro and Potosí. The results showed that 57.4% of the 47 municipalities mentioned that their herds (tamas) have been reduced in the last year, identifying as the main cause climate change expressed in limited access to water (drought). This information coincides with reports of the drought that affected the Bolivian highlands in 2016 in La Paz, Oruro and Potosí, according to a report from the country's humanitarian team. The other two factors of importance in the decrease of herds (tamas) are diseases (diarrhea, scabies and sarcocystiosis) and Andean wild animals (puma, fox and includes domestic wild dogs). There is a need for regulation in local governments to control wild dogs. It is also important to improve the early warning system in the livestock sector, mainly camelid.