Pedro Domingo Vargas Núñez has been guarding the country’s protected areas for over 30 years, and is currently a park ranger at Carrasco National Park in Cochabamba Department.
Since 19 April, Vargas has been hospitalized at the National Health Fund (CNS) of Cochabamba. Despite undergoing four interventions and suffering from pancreas problems, intestinal tuberculosis and other ailments, there is no prospect of discharge. Pedro faces difficulties covering the expenses of the many dishes that are not considered by Social Security, which affects both his health and his family’s economy.
In a call for solidarity of the environmental community and the Bolivian population, Vargas requests help in obtaining adult diapers along with some prescribed medications. According to the park ranger, currently among the essential products is baby milk, which costs around Bs 350.
At the age of 55, Vargas is plagued by uncertainty regarding his retirement due to his frail health and new regulations for public stewardship. Given the complexities of combining his work in the field with his precarious physical condition as an employee of the National Service for Protected Areas (SARNAP), a possible option would have been to request his redeployment to one of the main camps.
Vargas said, “I don’t know how I’ll be able to get back to work, but there are reports of park rangers at main camps and less time spent in the field, maybe that can help me a little bit.” Said.
The park ranger attributes his health problems to the lifestyle of protectors of the environment. “As park rangers, we don’t eat at certain times, we drink water from any stream, we sweat and we get wet. All of these must have an effect,” he argued.
Pedro has made available a QR code from his personal account (Pedro Domingo Vargas Núñez), which can be requested from his wife, Cynthia Roxana Aguilar, via cell phone number 650-14202. Although his family lives in Santa Cruz, Pedro is assigned to a protected area in Cochabamba, where he works as a park ranger.
