U.S. conservationist Jon Kohl gives environmental conferences and workshops in Bolivia

The audience enjoys Jon Kohl's public lecture in La Paz. Photo U.S. Embassy

Under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy and various local environmental organizations, U.S. conservationist, Jon Kohl, visited Bolivia from 9/10 to 9/17 to deliver a series of public lectures and conduct a four-day course on Environmental Interpretation.  Through his various presentations in La Paz, Santa Cruz, Rurrenabaque, and San Miguel del Bala, Kohl, who is a wildlife sanctuary naturalist, zoo educator, an interpretive guide trainer, and interpretive planner, reaffirmed the value of eco-tourism in the preservation of natural preserves, and in the improvement of the quality of life of rural communities.

During his Bolivia program, Kohl reached an audience of approximately 450 conservationists, tourism administrators, educators, university students, and indigenous tourist guides, who learned how environmental interpretation can encourage common people to take actions towards the preservation of protected areas and how it can become an important tool for rural communities to participate in alternative economic development initiatives. 

Jon Kohl illustrates his public lecture in Santa Cruz. Photo U.S. Embassy

Jon Kohl shared his vision of environmental interpretation as a tool to help people understand the natural world better by inspiring and encouraging them to actively support efforts to protect the environment.  He stressed that the power of interpretation provokes different and deeper understanding and forges new relationships between people and places, which is exactly what the world needs in order to transition to a more sustainable future.  Interpretation can spread a message on the environment through well-designed tourist trails that persuade tourists to take action to reduce the threats against nature.   In this vein, interpretive planners play a key role in the implementation of effective ecotourism programs, whose success relies on well-thought-out messages, and on entertaining, relevant, organized, and thematic trails.

Participants of the course in San Miguel. Photo U.S. Embassy

In addition to three lectures in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Rurrenabaque, speaker Kohl conducted a four-day workshop in San Miguel del Bala, a Tacana community neighbor to the Madidi National Park, where he used existing tourist trails to teach a group of 30 professionals from diverse Bolivian regions about the steps to successful interpretation. 

Co-sponsors of this program included the National Committee on Eco-tourism, Conservation International, the Tourism Media Association, the Foundation for the Administration of Tourist Destiny in La Paz and Beni, the World Tourism Organization, the Nature Conservancy, the Friends of Nature Foundation, the High and Low Isoso District, the Santa Cruz Provincial Government, and the Santa Cruz Bi-National Center.