The Search for a Sustainable Agricultural Alternative: Lessons in Conservation and Land Management from Indigenous Bolivians in Amazonia.

The green revolution of the 20th century which invented and implemented the large-scale industrialization of our agricultural production and land management practices has largely been responsible for an unprecedented increase in agricultural productivity. However, these agricultural advancements have brought many unintended consequences that threaten the resilience, sustainability, and longevity of our ecosystems, and our ability to sustain our populations in the future. Because of these challenges brought by industrial agriculture, which were developed entirely from Western science, it is increasingly important to include different land management ethics and production systems with more comprehensive ecological considerations, such as that of indigenous populations. While traditional indigenous knowledge has historically been disincentivized and discredited by Western science, modern discoveries within the Bolivian Amazon suggest that pre-Columbian populations domesticated entire landscapes and ecosystems to maximize productivity without compromising overall ecological health. This indigenous ecosystem domestication not only curated the high biodiversity we associate with Amazonia today, but also provided an alternative land management ethic that sustained significant populations and healthy ecosystems simultaneously which we can learn from today. This thesis studies the land management practices among historical and modern indigenous Bolivians that created these ecosystems, and aims to draw large scale conclusions about nature-based solutions in agriculture, agroforestry, and the need for conservation partnerships anchored in creating and protecting indigenous autonomy and independence within their ancestral homelands.