Guiana Shield Eco-region receives boost with key signing
…Iwokrama selected as Pilot Site
Kaieteur News, 9 October 2007
The 2.244M Euros Guiana Shield Initiative (GSI) Phase II Project was
officially launched yesterday with the relevant signing of an agreement
at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel by United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) Resident Representative. Mr. Aboubacry Tall, and Dr. David
Singh, Director General of Iwokrama Field Station, Kurupukari, Region
8, one of the Pilot sites selected.
The UNDP, in collaboration with the European Union, the Dutch
Government, and the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands – (IUNC
NL), has financed the project titled, “Ecological and Financial
Sustainable Management of the Guiana Shield Eco-region”.
The United Nations Development Programme is directly executing the
project which is expected to last a period of 42 months with the aim of
promoting the sustainable development of the Guiana Shield by means of
an integrated eco-regional management framework, designed to enable the
six countries - namely Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana,
Suriname and Venezuela - and their local communities to benefit from
their natural resources.
Each pilot project is expected to have an element of sustainable
livelihood generation which has a long list of strategies including the
development of ecosystem management contracts and benefit sharing
mechanisms for implementation of financial mechanism, along with
several other approaches.
Iwokrama, with 371,000 hectares of state- and community-owned forest,
stands as the smallest and first of the three Pilot Sites selected for
project execution. Among the others are Mataven in Colombia which has
in excess of 1.8 million hectares and Tumucumaque in Brazil with
approximately 2 million hectares.
The sites are expected to draw regional and global attention to the
benefits of maintaining intact eco-systems, and demonstrate that a
payment system for ecological services is feasible.
They are also expected to generate international donor money to
replicate the compensation schemes.
The Guiana Shield Initiative (GSI) had its genesis in 1989 with the
establishment of the European Working Group on Amazonia, and was
officially launched in 1993 by the European Parliament, with the IUCN
National Committee of the Netherlands being named as the partner to
maintain the ecological and associated cultural integrity of the Guiana
Shield eco-region by means of compensation for ecosystem services.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the GSI project is the establishment of a
regional balance of payment system for environmental goods and
services.
It is also aimed at providing a tool for poverty alleviation by
protecting the ecosystem of the region.
Contributing to the creativeness of a collaborative eco-regional
management framework and increasing public awareness on the importance
of maintaining ecological and cultural integrity are also key
objectives on the project's long list of outlined goals.
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE
The Guiana Shield Initiative is a long-term eco-regional project for
the sustainable financing of conservation and sustainable development
of the unique intact ecosystems of the Guiana Shield.
The eco-region covers parts of Colombia , Venezuela and Brazil , and
the whole of Guyana , Suriname and French Guiana .
A key premise of the GSI is that, following the leading conventions,
the international community should work with local, national and
regional stakeholders to compensate the countries of the Guiana Shield
for supplying the valuable environmental goods and services provided by
their ecosystems, such as the regulation of hydrological cycles and
climate, as well as the preservation of biodiversity.
The GSI is taking a consultative and collaborative approach involving
local communities, local authorities, NGOs, international NGOs, and
scientists to identify priorities for conservation and the needs for
sustainable livelihoods in the region.
Phase II of the GSI is under the chairmanship of Major General (retd.)
and CEO of GT&T, Joe Singh, with Dr. Patrick Chesney of the UNDP
holding the position of Project Manager.
The IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands had received funding
from the Directorate General of International Co-operation of the
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the first phase of the GSI.
Financial sustainability is a key condition for achieving the objective
of sustainable management and development by the six countries of the
Guiana Shield.
A key element of the GSI will therefore be the design of an innovative
regional financial mechanism, or ecological balance of payments system,
in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), its
implementing and executive agencies, and other stake-holders.
Other critical components of the GSI are integrated ecosystem
management and capacity building, and information exchange, education
and training.
Committee Chairman Joseph Singh, in a discourse, urged that all
countries involved in the initiative work together in order to achieve
the common objective, “Without the participation of all governments of
the G6, any proposal will fall short of its main purpose.”
Additionally, UN Resident Representative, Aboubacry Tall, speaking on
Global Warming and the contribution of the region, stated that the
Guiana Shield will play a significant role in the alteration of global
warming, adding that all countries capable must act in order to delay,
alter or ultimately reverse global warming within the next 25 years.
He added that the project is a modest but important contributor towards
the combat of Global Warming.
THE GUIANA SHIELD
The Guiana Shield eco-region covers 2.5 million km of land mass and
extends from Colombia in the west to the State of Amapa in the east.
It includes Venezuelan States of Delta Amacuro, Bolivar and Amazonas;
all of Guyana Suriname and French Guiana; and continues into the
ecologically associated areas of the Brazilian States of Para , Roraima
and Amazonas.
It is an eco-region of global significance, with a population of
approximately 1.5-2 Million.
It also accounts for 25 percent of the world's pristine tropical
forests, stores 10-15 percent of the planet's fresh water supply and
contains diverse ecosystems that provide habitats for rich
biodiversity. (Alex Holder)
…Iwokrama selected as Pilot Site
Kaieteur News, 9 October 2007
The 2.244M Euros Guiana Shield Initiative (GSI) Phase II Project was
officially launched yesterday with the relevant signing of an agreement
at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel by United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) Resident Representative. Mr. Aboubacry Tall, and Dr. David
Singh, Director General of Iwokrama Field Station, Kurupukari, Region
8, one of the Pilot sites selected.
The UNDP, in collaboration with the European Union, the Dutch
Government, and the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands – (IUNC
NL), has financed the project titled, “Ecological and Financial
Sustainable Management of the Guiana Shield Eco-region”.
The United Nations Development Programme is directly executing the
project which is expected to last a period of 42 months with the aim of
promoting the sustainable development of the Guiana Shield by means of
an integrated eco-regional management framework, designed to enable the
six countries - namely Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana,
Suriname and Venezuela - and their local communities to benefit from
their natural resources.
Each pilot project is expected to have an element of sustainable
livelihood generation which has a long list of strategies including the
development of ecosystem management contracts and benefit sharing
mechanisms for implementation of financial mechanism, along with
several other approaches.
Iwokrama, with 371,000 hectares of state- and community-owned forest,
stands as the smallest and first of the three Pilot Sites selected for
project execution. Among the others are Mataven in Colombia which has
in excess of 1.8 million hectares and Tumucumaque in Brazil with
approximately 2 million hectares.
The sites are expected to draw regional and global attention to the
benefits of maintaining intact eco-systems, and demonstrate that a
payment system for ecological services is feasible.
They are also expected to generate international donor money to
replicate the compensation schemes.
The Guiana Shield Initiative (GSI) had its genesis in 1989 with the
establishment of the European Working Group on Amazonia, and was
officially launched in 1993 by the European Parliament, with the IUCN
National Committee of the Netherlands being named as the partner to
maintain the ecological and associated cultural integrity of the Guiana
Shield eco-region by means of compensation for ecosystem services.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the GSI project is the establishment of a
regional balance of payment system for environmental goods and
services.
It is also aimed at providing a tool for poverty alleviation by
protecting the ecosystem of the region.
Contributing to the creativeness of a collaborative eco-regional
management framework and increasing public awareness on the importance
of maintaining ecological and cultural integrity are also key
objectives on the project's long list of outlined goals.
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE
The Guiana Shield Initiative is a long-term eco-regional project for
the sustainable financing of conservation and sustainable development
of the unique intact ecosystems of the Guiana Shield.
The eco-region covers parts of Colombia , Venezuela and Brazil , and
the whole of Guyana , Suriname and French Guiana .
A key premise of the GSI is that, following the leading conventions,
the international community should work with local, national and
regional stakeholders to compensate the countries of the Guiana Shield
for supplying the valuable environmental goods and services provided by
their ecosystems, such as the regulation of hydrological cycles and
climate, as well as the preservation of biodiversity.
The GSI is taking a consultative and collaborative approach involving
local communities, local authorities, NGOs, international NGOs, and
scientists to identify priorities for conservation and the needs for
sustainable livelihoods in the region.
Phase II of the GSI is under the chairmanship of Major General (retd.)
and CEO of GT&T, Joe Singh, with Dr. Patrick Chesney of the UNDP
holding the position of Project Manager.
The IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands had received funding
from the Directorate General of International Co-operation of the
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the first phase of the GSI.
Financial sustainability is a key condition for achieving the objective
of sustainable management and development by the six countries of the
Guiana Shield.
A key element of the GSI will therefore be the design of an innovative
regional financial mechanism, or ecological balance of payments system,
in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), its
implementing and executive agencies, and other stake-holders.
Other critical components of the GSI are integrated ecosystem
management and capacity building, and information exchange, education
and training.
Committee Chairman Joseph Singh, in a discourse, urged that all
countries involved in the initiative work together in order to achieve
the common objective, “Without the participation of all governments of
the G6, any proposal will fall short of its main purpose.”
Additionally, UN Resident Representative, Aboubacry Tall, speaking on
Global Warming and the contribution of the region, stated that the
Guiana Shield will play a significant role in the alteration of global
warming, adding that all countries capable must act in order to delay,
alter or ultimately reverse global warming within the next 25 years.
He added that the project is a modest but important contributor towards
the combat of Global Warming.
THE GUIANA SHIELD
The Guiana Shield eco-region covers 2.5 million km of land mass and
extends from Colombia in the west to the State of Amapa in the east.
It includes Venezuelan States of Delta Amacuro, Bolivar and Amazonas;
all of Guyana Suriname and French Guiana; and continues into the
ecologically associated areas of the Brazilian States of Para , Roraima
and Amazonas.
It is an eco-region of global significance, with a population of
approximately 1.5-2 Million.
It also accounts for 25 percent of the world's pristine tropical
forests, stores 10-15 percent of the planet's fresh water supply and
contains diverse ecosystems that provide habitats for rich
biodiversity. (Alex Holder)
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