The implications of decentralization in forest management: Municipalities and local forest users in lowland Bolivia

The document examines how the transfer of power to municipal governments in lowland Bolivia has affected forest management and the livelihoods of local users. While decentralization has increased the bargaining power of marginalized groups like indigenous people and small-scale timber producers, it has also created bureaucratic hurdles and reinforced the influence of local elites. The author argues that the success of these reforms is constrained by macroeconomic policies, high transaction costs for land titling, and the influence of national political parties on local governance.

• Decentralization in Bolivia, specifically through the 1994 Popular Participation Law (LPP), transferred significant responsibilities and 20 percent of the annual national budget to 311 municipalities to improve social investment and reduce regional exclusion.
• The 1996 Forestry Law granted municipal governments the power to monitor logging, inspect raw material supply, and delimit municipal reserves for local forest user groups in up to 20% of the public forest in their jurisdiction.
• Despite the intent to democratize, municipal governance is often distorted by national political parties, and community-based Vigilance Committees are frequently co-opted by political parties or biased toward urban residents.
• Marginalized groups, including indigenous people and small-scale timber producers, have gained increased bargaining power, but they face severe bureaucratic obstacles in land titling and the formulation of required forest management plans.
• Municipal Forestry Units (UFMs) are often underfunded and lack the capacity to provide necessary technical assistance, leaving local forest users dependent on international donors and NGOs for management plans.
• Local elites, such as large ranchers and sawmill operators, have maintained their power and continue to influence municipal governments, often leading to the neglect of illegal logging enforcement when it involves influential local groups.
• Deforestation in Bolivia increased from approximately 80 thousand ha/year in the early 1980s to 250 thousand ha/year between the mid-1980s and 1992/94, primarily driven by large-scale mechanized soybean production.

APA

Pacheco, P. (2002). The implications of decentralization in forest management: Municipalities and local forest users in lowland Bolivia. World Resources Institute. http://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pdf/eaa_decent_pacheco.pdf

Chicago

Pacheco, Pablo. The implications of decentralization in forest management: Municipalities and local forest users in lowland Bolivia. World Resources Institute, 2002. http://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pdf/eaa_decent_pacheco.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pacheco |first1=Pablo |title=The implications of decentralization in forest management: Municipalities and local forest users in lowland Bolivia |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2002 |url=http://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pdf/eaa_decent_pacheco.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pacheco2002implications, author = {Pacheco, Pablo}, title = {{The implications of decentralization in forest management: Municipalities and local forest users in lowland Bolivia}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2002}, url = {http://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pdf/eaa_decent_pacheco.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }