At 3700m of altitude, in the south of Bolivia, the lake Poopó arrived at a point of no return.
At its best, it covered an area on more than 2,500km2 of surface, almost the equivalent of a country like Luxembourg.
The 2nd biggest lake of the country (after Titicaca) is now an arid desert...
From now on, one finds only fishing boats abandoned on stretches of dried mud and corpses of animal species.
Two main factors have been put forward: global warming and human activity.
In the past, water levels have reached very low levels but thanks to the rainy season and the water from the Desaguardero River, the lake filled up again.
Since then, rainy seasons have become more intense but shorter and rising temperatures have increased water evaporation.
In addition, a large part of the Desaguardero River has been diverted for irrigation for agricultural and mining purposes.
In total, more than 200 species have disappeared (reptiles, mammals, birds, fish ...).
This area has been designated as a "disaster zone" by the government.
This also had an impact on the indigenous communities that lived around it.
The fishermen were forced to become workers or to leave for the big cities.
