Bolivia / Cooperación internacional

Development of the Investigation Manual for environmental crime cases in Bolivia

During the mission to Bolivia organized in October 2021, the Bolivian Police and the Bolivian Attorney General’s Office asked the EL PAcCTO program to support them in the creation of an Environmental Crime MES (Environmental MES) with the aim of establishing a specialized structure to fight environmental crime and protect biodiversity in the country. This structure would initially focus on wildlife crime and will be officially created on May 17, 2022 in Bolivia with the presence of the PAcCTO.

In this sense, supporting the development of procedures and methodologies focused on the investigation of environmental crimes that will be used by the members of the Bolivian Environmental EME is essential. Consequently, the present activity will be focused on supporting the Bolivian Police and the Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office in the development of an Investigation Manual for environmental crime cases. This document will be drafted during the mission to Bolivia for the signing of the Environmental MES on May 16-20, 2022 by an expert from the Portuguese Nature Protection Service (SEPNA).

For the development of the Bolivia manual, the Regional Guide for the Investigation of Environmental Crimes elaborated in 2019 by expert persons from Portugal and Spain will be taken as a reference. The Regional Guide can be consulted in this link: GUIA-REGIONAL-MEDIOAMBIENTAL