These trees use up a lot of water, leaving very little for boldo and other native plants. This can make it harder for boldo to survive, especially in dry areas.
Another threat to the boldo is wildfires. Wildfires are a natural disaster that happen often in Chile. Sadly, they have been happening more and more in recent years. While the boldo tree can sometimes grow back after a fire, fires that happen too often or burn too hot can destroy entire forests of boldo trees.
A final threat to the boldo tree is people. Humans can harm boldo by cutting down too many trees to make space for farms, roads and buildings. When too many boldo trees are removed, they don’t have a chance to grow back, and the forest loses an important part of its ecosystem. Another problem is overpicking the leaves. Boldo leaves are used in teas and medicine, but if people take too many from one tree, it can weaken the tree and make it harder for it to grow.
To help protect the boldo, we need to be careful about how much we take from nature and make sure we are planting new trees when old ones are removed. If we take care of the boldo and its forest, it can keep growing strong for many years!
