Regional ecological and financial sustainable management project opens today.

Regional ecological and financial
sustainable management project
opens today
…to promote sustainable development
of the Guiana Shield
Kaieteur News, 8 October 2007

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with
the European Union, the Dutch Government, and the IUCN National
Committee of the Netherlands – (IUNC NL), has financed the 2.244
Million Euros project titled, “Ecological and Financial Sustainable
Management of the Guiana Shield Eco-region” known as the GSI Phase II
Project, to be launched today at the Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel.

The UNDP 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.

The IUCN NL is a key technical implementing partner for the project and
stands as the Secretariat for the wider Guiana Shield Initiative (GSI).

During the 46-month period, activities will focus on pilot projects for
testing mechanisms for compensation for the provision of environmental
services, as well as culturally appropriate management contracts,
benefit sharing mechanisms and monitoring schemes. The project builds
upon the outputs of the Guiana Shield Conservation Priority Setting
Workshop held in April 2002 in Paramaribo , Suriname .

The resulting ‘Paramaribo Declaration‘ pledged support for inter-a1ia,
the countries of the Guiana Shield in their efforts to find fair
compensation for ecological services provided to the global community.