Anthropogenic influence on erosion rates in a typical watershed for strategies to reduce Land Degradation in the Bolivian Andes.

Human and naturally induced processes and land use/cover change in Bolivia, have increasingly transformed the hydrological functioning of mountainous ecosystems on high Andean watersheds; the details of which are barely known. Soil and land degradation is becoming a strong obstacle for agricultural and sustainable development and food security and sovereignty. A much better understanding is needed on the hydrological response to land and forest cover change and the efficiency of soil recovery and soil erosion. Such understanding would support the country’s actions for Integrated Watershed Management and enhance the results of national policies and actions. We pretend to uncover these dynamics in one of the country’s prioritized watersheds, which has base information and can be monitored during 3 years to evaluate the influence of human actions (positive or negative). We pretend also to do high-quality training and postulate a Postgrad program on water-soil relationships, amazingly very poorly understood in a country that is strongly affected by soil degradation and even desertification.