The Chiquitania fires: the role of water resources in forest restoration plans

In response to the 2019 'megafire' in the Chiquitano Forest, which burned approximately 3.6 million hectares, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) developed a pilot framework to help Bolivian policymakers use watersheds as the primary management unit for land and water planning. The framework combines remote sensing data on land use and fire from 2001 to 2019 with watershed maps and water-related indicators, such as groundwater recharge areas, to identify vulnerable zones. While current restoration plans in the Santa Cruz Department focus on socio-economic and governance actions, they lack water resource components. SEI's tool distinguishes between fires in intact forests versus those in areas already converted to agriculture and identifies northern Chiquitania as having the highest groundwater recharge potential. Future work involves adding criteria like ecosystem relevance and population size, and developing a regional-scale model using the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) tool to quantify the hydrological impacts of forest cover loss.

• The 2019 'megafire' in the Chiquitano Forest was one of the largest in Bolivian history, affecting nearly 10% of the Santa Cruz Department with approximately 3.6 million hectares burned.
• Existing restoration plans launched by national and regional agencies in Bolivia, such as the Plan De Recuperación De Las Zonas Afectadas Por Incendios En El Departamento De Santa Cruz, do not address water resource issues.
• SEI developed a prioritization tool using Tableau that integrates remote sensing data from 2001 to 2019 with watershed maps and groundwater recharge indicators to identify the most vulnerable watersheds.
• Analysis shows that the northern Chiquitania region possesses the highest number of groundwater wells and the greatest groundwater recharge potential, and has remained less impacted by fires to date.
• Forest cover loss has been driven by the steady advancement of the agricultural frontier since 2001, with the pace of conversion to cropping areas increasing since 2016.

APA

Wickel, B. (., Fernandez, J., & Escobar, M. (2020). The Chiquitania fires: the role of water resources in forest restoration plans. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/the-chiquitania-fires-the-role-of-water-resources-in-forest-restoration-plans.pdf

Chicago

Wickel, Bart (A.J.), Jeanne Fernandez, and Marisa Escobar. The Chiquitania fires: the role of water resources in forest restoration plans. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2020. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/the-chiquitania-fires-the-role-of-water-resources-in-forest-restoration-plans.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wickel |first1=Bart (A.J.) |last2=Fernandez |first2=Jeanne |last3=Escobar |first3=Marisa |title=The Chiquitania fires: the role of water resources in forest restoration plans |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=October 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/the-chiquitania-fires-the-role-of-water-resources-in-forest-restoration-plans.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wickel2020chiquitania, author = {Wickel, Bart (A.J.) and Fernandez, Jeanne and Escobar, Marisa}, title = {{The Chiquitania fires: the role of water resources in forest restoration plans}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/the-chiquitania-fires-the-role-of-water-resources-in-forest-restoration-plans.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }