A trans-Andean biosphere reserve linking Bolivia's Yungas cloud forests with the Amazon basin under indigenous co-management.
Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Indigenous Community Land
Pilón Lajas is a nearly 4,000 square kilometer protected area in northern Bolivia that spans the transition from the sub-Andean Yungas cloud forests to the lowland Bolivian Amazon. It holds the dual legal status of a UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve and an Indigenous Community Land of Origin (Tierra Comunitaria de Origen), an arrangement that reserves its territory for the traditional use of the T'simán, Mosetén, Tacana, and related peoples while protecting its exceptional biological diversity.
The reserve sits between the departments of La Paz and Beni and forms a continuous ecological corridor with Madidi National Park and the Beni Biosphere Reserve to the north and west. Its dramatic elevation range, from the river plains of the Beni and Quiquibey up to ridges of more than 2,000 meters, generates a steep gradient of ecosystems, including humid sub-Andean forests, cloud forests draped with mosses and epiphytes, tall evergreen terra firme and várzea forests, and isolated patches of montane savanna.
Pilón Lajas is notable for combining high species richness with strong indigenous governance. It ranks among the most floristically diverse areas of the Beni department, shelters endangered wildlife such as the Andean bear, jaguar, giant otter, and black-faced spider monkey, and is co-managed by Bolivia's national protected-area service and the Tsimán-Mosetén Regional Council representing the resident indigenous communities.
