Group stages miraculous revival of once-toxic lake — here's how they accomplished the unthinkable

The Uru Uru Team, launched in 2019 by Indigenous youth, is bringing hope to the once-stunning Lake Uru Uru. The Bolivian lake used to be home to hundreds of flamingos. But those numbers are dwindling because of pollution and environmental degradation.

Dayana Blanco Quiroga, co-founder of the Uru Uru Team, told the Equator Initiative — which organizes a prize recognizing "outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity" — that the nearby San José mine empties its pipelines into the lake. Plastic litter has also accumulated, leaching toxins into the waters as it slowly degrades.

"We have decided to come together again as a community and do something for our lake," said Blanco Quiroga, an Aymara woman from the community of Vito.

The team's solution is a native aquatic plant called totora, traditionally used to feed livestock, for rafts, and for other handicrafts.

Unfortunately, totora has also been on the decline, and the smell of the polluted lake presented a challenge. But the team has been able to find and cultivate the resilient plants and fashion them, along with recycled waste from the lake, into floating rafts. 

"Our elders gave some ideas for a good floating raft design. The Indigenous women and sisters from our community decided to found the community garden, which generates income to buy workwear and be equipped and protected to plant Totoras," Blanco Quiroga told The Convention on Wetlands, adding that her team also protects the floating rafts from vandalism.

Totora naturally absorbs heavy minerals and other pollutants — a concept known as phytoremediation — and the project has reduced lake pollution by 30%, per the Equator Initiative.

In 2023, the Uru Uru Team was honored with the Equator Prize after demonstrating "an effective model to ensure the well-being of an Indigenous community, preserve their knowledge and cultural identity, while curbing lake pollution to protect biodiversity."

Blanco Quiroga hopes her team's work will help restore Lake Uru Uru to a pristine state.

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"My mother is an example of resilience and perseverance, and she motivated me to dream higher and believe that the work of restoration we are doing in the Uru Uru Lake will leave a spark of hope to the next generations that they can feel change is possible if we find the harmony with the Mother Earth," she told The Convention on Wetlands.

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