Iténez Protected Area
Within the Iténez-Mamoré bi-national Corridor Bolivian Amazon sub-region, WWF is specifically supporting Iténez Protected Area.
The Iténez-Mamoré bi-national Corridor
This Corridor, located on the Bolivian-Brazilian border along the Iténez and Mamoré Rivers, shelters an important and impressive diversity of fish, important populations of giant river otter, river dolphin, and birds, among others. The CIM is of vital importance to guarantee the connectivity between protected areas and other natural resource management units in both countries.
Iténez Protected Area
The Iténez River borders the Iténez Protected Area (PA) on its east side, and is located in the northeastern portion of the Department of Beni (Bolivia), in the municipalities of Magdalena and Baures in the Iténez Province, on the international border between Bolivia and Brazil. This PA has a surface of 1,389,025 ha.
This PA has the following ecosystems:
- humid forests (50%)
- savannahs (28.6%)
- river forests (9.7%)
- rivers and lakes (6.4%)
- island forests (3.1%)
- others (1.9%)
Up to date, studies carried out register 490 species of flora and 714 of fauna (74 mammals, 360 birds, 45 reptiles, 42 amphibians and 192 fish).
Iténez PA is inhabited by various indigenous and peasant communities, mainly immigrants from the Department of Beni itself. There are traditional organizational structures like the Itonama and Peasant Subcentrals. 14 communities inhabit Iténez PA.
It is likely that the Iténez River Watershed is the most important bastion for the river dolphin (Inia boliviensis), as it is for other aquatic mammal species like the giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis).
