New regulations to push biodiversity protection

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56532052

New regulations to push biodiversity protection
By Johann Earle
Stabroek News, Monday, October 29th 2007

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is upping the ante in the
protection of biodiversity and the conservation of natural resources
with its new draft Wildlife Manage-ment and Conservation Regulations,
now being circulated for comment.

The proposed regulations, which carry heavy penalties, should be
implemented between 2008 and 2009.

Speaking with this newspaper on Friday, Director of the Natural
Resources Division of the EPA, Dr Indarjit Ramdass said that the
regulations were crafted to bring together many pieces of regulations
that were in existence but scattered under various agencies, concerning
fish, wild birds and wildlife.

"These Regulations will complement the Species Protection Regulations
(1999) which specifically addresses the wildlife trade. Additionally,
the draft Regulations will help to establish a legal framework for
wildlife management and conservation programmes, since the current
legislation on wildlife are fragmented, restricted and old," Dr Ramdass
said.

He noted that the Environmental Protection Act of 1996 stipulates that
it should take the necessary steps for the effective management of the
natural environment so as to ensure conservation, protection and
sustainable use of natural resources. According to Dr Ramdass, the
regulations complement too the recently approved and launched Arapaima
Management Plan in the harvesting and sale of arapaima in the
hinterland communities.

He said that the Act also stipulates the establishment and maintenance
of national parks and a protected areas system and a wildlife
protection management programme.

The EPA has secured further support from the GOG/UNDP Capacity Building
for the Management of Natural Resources and the Environment Project to
facilitate the finalisation of these Regulations. "It is expected that
the final document will be strengthened through further consultations
while addressing the documented comments received by the EPA from
stakeholders who were involved in the earlier consultations," Dr
Ramdass said.

According to Dr Ramdass, the development of the draft Regulations would
address legislative issues relating to the conservation and management
of Guyana's wildlife resources; harvesting and use of wildlife within
the country; identification of institutional roles of agencies that are
responsible for the management of wildlife resources; and improvement
of the decision-making process, leading towards sustainable wildlife
management.

But he said that at present, the EPA does not have the human resources
to adequately manage and monitor the conservation and sustainable use
of wildlife. "It is proposed that the EPA will work with the Guyana
Police Force, the hinterland communities, and relevant stakeholder
agencies as outlined in Part II, Regulation 5 of the draft
Regulations," Dr Ramdass said.

According to Regulation 5, the EPA can appoint suitably qualified
persons to be "Officers" for implementation and effective
administration under the draft Regulations.

Killing of

dangerous wildlife

The regulations said that notwithstanding anything contained within
them, "it shall not be unlawful for any person to kill or wound any
wild animal in defence of himself or any other person if immediately
and absolutely necessary."

But the caveat is that the burden of proof that the animal has been
killed or wounded in accordance with the provision will be on the
person who has done the killing or wounding. This also goes for a
person who feels that his land and home are threatened by a wild
animal. In such cases, the person has an obligation under the
regulations to report the circumstances of the killing in no more than
seven days after the event and deliver the carcass to the nearest
police station.

Consultation

As part of its consultative strategy, the EPA circulated the draft
Regulations to various stakeholders requesting comments and
suggestions. A National Steering Committee for consultation on the
Wildlife Management and Conservation Regulations was established on
February 9, 2001. The EPA, in collaboration with Iwokrama, facilitated
discussions with local communities in the various Regions with support
from the Department for International Development (DFID) during 2002.

Ramdass said that the Initial Consultation Process included
introductory meetings involving major stakeholders, meetings of the
sub-groups on the wildlife trade and meetings in hinterland
communities.

The meetings stated above involved various stakeholders including
governmental organizations, NGOs and the private sector.

He stated that the current consultation process involves meetings and
discussions with stakeholder agencies, two national consultation
workshops and making the draft regulations available on the website for
public comment.

Fines and

imprisonment

The regulations state that any person who possesses any living wild
animal without a Captive Wildlife Licence commits an offence and shall
be liable to a fine of up to $80,000.

They said too that a person who sells, possesses for sale, exposes or
offers for sale any wildlife except in accordance with the terms and
conditions of a Commercial Licence commits an offence and shall be
liable to a fine up to $500,000 and imprisonment for six months.

A person who sells, possesses for sale, exposes or offers for sale or
otherwise deals in any wildlife except in accordance with the terms and
conditions of a Commercial Licence commits an offence and shall be
liable to a fine of up to $500,000 and imprisonment for six months, the
regulations state.