A mosaic of forests, pampas, and wetlands in the Llanos de Moxos, anchored by the Ibare and Mamoré rivers.
Ibare-Mamoré Municipal Protected Area
The Ibare-Mamoré Municipal Protected Area is a municipally administered conservation area in the Beni department of lowland Bolivia, lying just west of the departmental capital, Trinidad. The reserve sits within the Llanos de Moxos ecoregion and is defined by the confluence zone of the Ibare and Mamoré rivers, encompassing a varied mosaic of forest, pampas, and seasonal wetlands characteristic of the southwestern Amazon basin.
Established in 2011 through municipal ordinance, the area represents a meaningful share of the municipality's territory and was created to safeguard the region's ecological integrity alongside the livelihoods of resident communities. Its importance rests on a combination of ecological value, including habitat for the Amazon river dolphin (bufeo), jaguar, and marsh deer, and on hydrological function, since the Ibare River plays a regulating role in the local water cycle.
At the same time, the protected area is home to several indigenous and traditional communities whose lives revolve around fishing, subsistence agriculture, and river-based cultural practices. This blend of biodiversity conservation, hydrological regulation, and cultural presence gives the Ibare-Mamoré a distinctive identity within Bolivia's protected-area system.
