Bolivia
My subject for Bolivia is Nena Baltazar who has been rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife for the last 25 years.
Nena is a co-founder of CIWY which now runs three animal sanctuaries and carries out educational projects at local and national level, along with scientific research projects.
Geography
Bolivia is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands, situated within the Amazon basin. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru.
Source Wikipedia
Environmental issues
The major environmental issues in Bolivia include managing its forests, preserving the country's levels of biodiversity, maintaining ecologically important protected areas, coping with the effects of climate change, and dealing with the environmental consequences of agriculture, mining, oil and gas development, and transportation infrastructure.
About Nena
Tania ‘Nena’ Baltazar Lugones studied biology at the University of La Paz when, in 1992, she founded CIWY.
CIWY stands for Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi and is a Bolivian non-governmental organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and care of wildlife that has been the victim of illegal trafficking and other abuse.
As Bolivia's leading organization fighting for animal rights and wildlife care, CIWY works to combat the illegal wildlife trade and environmental destruction. They collaborate with Bolivian authorities to enforce the law, confiscate and rescue animals from poachers and traders, as well as zoos when conditions do not meet legal requirements.
CIWY also rehabilitates wild animals that were injured by fires or other disasters. They carry out educational projects at local and national level, as well as research and scientific dissemination projects.
In 1996, with two spider monkeys, two capuchin monkeys and a squirrel monkey, Nena, Juan Carlos Antezana and Milka Gutiérrez founded the first wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia for the care of animals rescued from illegal trafficking.
Nena spent fourteen years as General Director of Machía Sanctuary and was instrumental in the expansion of CIWY in later years to its current position of three sanctuaries. In 2010 she was elected president of CIWY and remains in this position.
The full painting process and more of Nena’s story can be watched in the YouTube video which can be found by clicking on the link below