EMBASSY SCIENCE FELLOW PROGRAM 2009 BOLIVIA

UNCLAS LA PAZ 000382 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO EAGR ENRG ECON AMGT APER SUBJECT: EMBASSY SCIENCE FELLOW PROGRAM 2009 BOLIVIA REF: SECSTATE 10843 ¶1. The La Paz Prefecture (state government) in Bolivia has been dramatically impacted by the effects of climate change. The La Paz prefect (governor) is anxious to investigate the causes of these problems, work towards finding solutions, and integrate best practices into his water projects. In the interest of completing this project Post requests a fellow for the full 3 months of this program. While conversational Spanish ability would be ideal for this appointment, lack of Spanish knowledge is not prohibitive. No clearance is needed. We leave timing issues to the fellow, but please note that winter and summer are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere and that the term of the current prefect ends in April 2010. ¶2. The unique topography of the La Paz Altiplano has responded particularly strongly to the temperature changes produced by global warming. Droughts are common in most of the high-altitude department, while the lower altitude Yungas region suffers from unseasonal flooding. The water supply which the capital city of La Paz, rapidly expanding city of El Alto, (with more than 1.6 million inhabitants combined) and neighboring communities depend upon is threatened by fluctuations in the water level of Lake Titicaca and shrinking glaciers in the Andes. In the past two decades glaciers comprising these ice caps have decreased in size by 43 percent. Additionally, extensive flooding in La Paz in the past months has been attributed to global climate change by the local government. During a meeting with La Paz Prefect Pablo Ramos Sanchez, Post found him eager to work with the United States on these issues. He expressed a clear interest in the ESFP program by offering whatever resources the prefecture was able to spare in terms of transportation and logistical support. Prefect Sanchez has committed to providing a bilingual engineer with whom to partner the fellow, if no Spanish speaker can be found. The Prefect, who also happens to have been a recent rector of Bolivia's largest university in La Paz, has also volunteered to coordinate outreach to climate, agriculture, and hydrology experts and academics as requested. Prefect Sanchez is enthusiastic to work with the USG, describing global warming as a "problem of humanity," not a local or national issue. An ESFP fellow would give Post the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with a ruling party,(MAS)aligned politician in a positive and productive manner. It will also be help to debunk the popular Bolivian viewpoint, especially among MAS politicians and supporters, that the U.S. is indifferent to issues of environmental sustainability in Bolivia. Post and the La Paz Prefect specifically discussed the possibility of using an ESFP fellow to conduct a review of ongoing prefect water management projects, including rainwater canalization, irrigation, well construction, and waste water treatment. Upon completion of the fellowship, the fellow could present a report with suggested improvements to such projects, as well as suggestions for the prefecture to promote water conservation in drought-stricken populations. However, both Post and the La Paz Prefect remain highly flexible about the details of any ESFP fellowship and would relay heavily on suggestions from the selected fellow to develop a fellowship plan, so long as the fellow remains focused on climate change and/or water conservation. An ideal candidate would be a hydrologist or climate change specialist. Post ESFP contact is familiar with the climate change related work of Professor Lonnie Thompson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie Thompson)and suggests him as a possible candidate for consideration of this fellowship. Thompson is a tenured professor at Ohio State University, a land grant institution. Professor Thompson has extensive experience with tropical ice caps, including expeditions in Peru, as well as an outstanding working relationship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation. ¶3. The General Services Office of the La Paz Embassy will support the ESFP fellow by providing housing, transportation, and any necessary office support. ¶4. The Regional Security Office has cleared the ESFP fellow to travel Bolivia as necessary in the capacity of their fellowship. ¶5. The Embassy point of contact for this proposal is Charles Sellers in EcoPol. He can be contacted at sellerscr@state.gov or (591)(2)216-8057. The secondary contact on this project is Margaret DaRocha who can be contacted at darochamm@state.gov or (591)(2)216-8170. The fax number for both Charles and Margaret is (591)(2)216-8855. The La Paz Prefect appointed an engineer (Edgar Cala) to act as a working level contact for support of the fellow, although he insisted that he was personally interested in acting as the fellow's main point of contact with the Prefecture, as climate change is a subject for which he has a "personal passion." His contact information follows: Prefecto a.i. Lic. Pablo Ramos Sanchez, Prefectura del Departmamento de La Paz (State Prefectural Government of La Paz Department),(591-2) 220-4397, Fax: (591-2) 220-4182, parasan @hotmail.com . URS