Barry Chernoff - Böcker

The Upper Rio Orthon Basin of Pando, Bolivia, is a transition zone between moister lowland Amazonian forests and dryer deciduous forests. This largely unexplored region potentially harbours one of the most richly biodiverse aquatic systems within Bolivia, if not within the Amazon River basin. A multinational and multidisciplinary team of scientists surveyed the area to provide a baseline assessment of its biological and conservation value as well as the current and future threats facing the region. In just over two intensive weeks, scientists surveyed water quality, zooplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates, crustaceans and genetics.

While the Rio Paraguay Basin is sparsely populated and poorly surveyed, and it has experienced relatively little human disturbance, it currently faces one large development project: the Hidrovia Paraguay-Parana, which proposes to dredge and channel extensive portions of the Rio Paraguay watershed, altering water flow and seasonal flooding cycles. Conservation International's rapid assessment team aided to document aquatic diversity and the state of the aquatic ecosystem in order to determine sustainable conservation and development strategies for the region.