Between December 1st and 3rd of this year, the "Environmental Monitoring Workshop" was held, organized by Florida International University (FIU), Conservify, Citizen Science Network for the Amazon (CC Network) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Bolivia, with the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The workshop was given by Paulo Olivas (PhD), an expert in research on environmental change on different spatial and temporal scales, who leads the Water Quality collaborative group in the CC Network.
The workshop was attended by 22 participants, including park rangers from the protected areas of Madidi and Pilón Lajas, monitoring technicians from the Indigenous Council of the Tacana People (CIPTA) and the Tsimane Mosetene Regional Council (CRTM), and researchers.

Photo: Guido Miranda/WCS
Between December 1st and 3rd of this year, the "Environmental Monitoring Workshop" was held, organized by Florida International University (FIU), Conservify, Citizen Science Network for the Amazon (CC Network) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Bolivia, with the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The workshop was given by Paulo Olivas (PhD), an expert in research on environmental change on different spatial and temporal scales, who leads the Water Quality collaborative group in the CC Network.
The workshop was attended by 22 participants, including park rangers from the protected areas of Madidi and Pilón Lajas, monitoring technicians from the Indigenous Council of the Tacana People (CIPTA) and the Tsimane Mosetene Regional Council (CRTM), and researchers.

Photo: Cecilia Flores Turdera/WCS
In addition to the handling of FieldKit equipment, methodologies were presented to measure river quality through hydrological, habitat and macroinvertebrate indices (Jorge Molina, Limnology). The data to determine these indices were downloaded to the collaborative and citizen data collection platform Anecdata. In addition, training was given on the use of test strips for simple and inexpensive measuring of 16 parameters. All this is to ensure that those responsible for monitoring have the necessary technical and equipment inputs for data collection, allowing them to determine the quality of rivers and detect warning signs that require specific studies.
In the practice section, the participants learned how to assemble each piece of equipment and then proceeded to install it. This took place in the lagoon of the campus of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), in Cota Cota.

Photo: Guido Miranda/WCS
The sites where the equipment will be installed in December this year have yet to be determined. The data obtained with the help of the park rangers and field technicians will provide valuable information on the environmental conditions of the area and will allow periodic evaluation of the water bodies in the area, identifying potential situations that threaten water quality.