Assessing Volcanic Risk Capacity in Bolivia

Global Volcano Risk Alliance teamed up with Association of Latin American Volcanologists (ALVO) in March 2026 to venture into the heart of Boliva’s capital, La Paz, sitting proud as the highest capital city in the world and the highest international airport at over 4,000 metres. We were there to talk to Bolivian authorities about volcanic risk. Bolivia is one the few countries in the region that, despite having active volcanoes, does not yet have an official monitoring network. The project sought to understand the institutional organisation, risk perception, level of preparedness and monitoring of volcanoes, as well as governance of volcanic risk in Bolivia, through interviews with key stakeholders in the region.

We held Interviews with all of the major risk and research organisations in Bolivia (Civil protection, Civil aviation authority, Seismic observatory, multiple people at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés UMSA), Municipality vulnerability team, Geological service and the Red Cross). The topics of discussion ranged from the impact of historical volcanic events to disaster risk management, administrative and budgetary constraints, and international collaboration.

This work will form the basis of scoping assessment report that will determine opportunities and gaps and priority areas for increasing volcanic risk preparedness. We also hope that this assessment will serve as a foundation for future projects in Bolivia focused on improving community and institutional preparedness for future eruptive events.