Guyana's extraordinary offer to Britain to save one of the world's most
important carbon sinks
By Daniel Howden in Georgetown, Guyana
Published:24 November 2007
http://environment.independent
Man-made climate change is a clear and present danger. Decision-makers
from around the globe will converge on Bali in a fortnight in an
attempt to do something about it. And the call has gone out for the
world's leaders to take bold action to avoid a catastrophe.
Enter Guyana. The former British colony, sandwiched between Venezuela
and Brazil, is home to fewer than a million people but it is also home
to an intact rainforest larger than England. In a dramatic offer, the
government of Guyana has said it is willing to place its entire
standing forest under the control of a British-led, international body
in return for a bilateral deal with the UK that would secure
development aid and the technical assistance needed to make the change
to a green economy.
The deal would represent potentially the largest carbon offset ever
undertaken, securing the vast carbon sinks of Guyana's pristine forest
in return for assisting the economic growth of South America's poorest
economy.
Speaking in his office in the capital, Georgetown, on the Caribbean
coast, Guyana's President, Bharrat Jagdeo, said the offer was a chance
for Britain to make a "moral offset" and underline its leadership on
the most important single issue facing the world – climate change. "We
can deploy the forest against global warming and, through the UK's
help, it wouldn't have to stymie development in Guyana."
Mr Jagdeo, 43, said he was "looking for a partner to sit across the
table with" to work out the precise terms of any deal, without
compromising the country's sovereignty. "We are a country with the
political will and a large tract of standing forest. I'm not a
mercenary, this is not blackmail and I realise there's no such thing as
a free lunch. I'm not just doing this just because I'm a good man and
want to save the world, I need the assistance."
Mr Jagdeo, an economist by training, did not envisage long-term support
from the British taxpayer but said the British government could help by
lending its backing to private sector investments through the emerging
carbon markets. "The market should ultimately compensate countries but
in the absence of this, this is the best thing on the table. It would
send a strong message to Bali that standing forests matter," he said.
The existing rainforest reserve of Iwokrama in central Guyana has been
mentioned as a model for what could be done countrywide. The
million-acre reserve was gifted to the Commonwealth in 1989 as a
showcase for how tropical forests could be managed to provide
ecological and economic benefits. Scientists working there estimate it
holds close to 120 million tons of carbon – an amount equivalent to the
annual emissions of the UK.
David Singh, chief executive of Iwokrama, said Guyana's offer has to be
taken seriously: "When a sovereign state does this, it's something the
world needs to pay attention to. Nowhere else is a state willing to
place its forest into the hands of the international community for
protection."
The accelerating destruction of the rainforests that form a cooling
band around the earth's equator is recognised as one the main causes of
climate change. Tropical deforestation accounts for one fifth of all
carbon emissions, more than the entire transport sector – including the
aviation industry. The burning of trees pumps as much carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere as the US and has pushed Indonesia and Brazil into
the world's top four polluters. Despite this, efforts to avoid
deforestation were not included in the Kyoto protocol. That agreement
is expiring and the UN climate change conference in Bali next month is
tasked with thrashing out a successor that will work. The landmark
Stern Review concluded that forests offer the single largest chance for
cost-effective and immediate reductions of carbon emissions.
But the gap between rhetoric and reality remains large for smaller
nations such as Guyana. "It infuriates me when I hear lofty speeches
and back-patting in the developed world," said Mr Jagdeo. "Despite
Stern, we are wondering whether they really believe that avoiding
deforestation is the most cost-effective way to combat climate change."
Hylton Murray-Philipson, the head of London-based Rainforest Concern,
said a deal could be a breakthrough. "In the absence of an
international agreement, an early action by enlightened leaders should
be greatly welcomed. Business as usual is not going to work." The
former investment banker, who is working to bring funding into
developing carbon markets, said: "It's insanity that a single service
company, Google, has a market value of $200bn, while all the services
of all of the world's great forests are valued at nothing."
Guyana is the only English-speaking country in South America and, with
its history in the sugar trade and Caribbean links, is primarily a
coastal culture. With a population of only around 750,000 in a country
almost as big as the entire UK, it combines dense, species-rich forests
with low population pressure.
But the soaring price of timber and gold, which is mined from forested
areas, means pressure to exploit its most obvious resource is building.
A Brazilian plan is on the drawing board to build a paved highway
through the rainforest, a move that could turn Georgetown into a major
port and change the face of the country. "Maybe we should just cut down
the trees. Then someone would recognise the problem," said Mr Jagdeo.
"But I want to think we can fulfil our people's aspirations without
cutting down the trees."
Mr Jagdeo said the UK's leading role in achieving debt relief for Third
World countries had inspired him to make the offer to London: "Ordinary
people in Britain, the churches and NGOs put the issue squarely on the
agenda. Then the British Government championed debt relief. This would
send a signal that we are prepared to go beyond Kyoto. It could be a
symbol of what can be done."
Iwokrama: the prototype which prospered
The outline of the Iwokrama rainforest reserve cannot be seen from the
air. The green ocean of the forest canopy stretches uninterrupted in
every direction. But the sanctuary, which takes its name from the
language of the local Makushi people and means "place of refuge", is
there and it's an extraordinary place.
Part of the Guyana Shield, one of the last four intact rainforests left
in the world, it is home to mountains, 200 lakes, rivers flowing over
volcanic dykes, lowland tropical rainforests and palm forests. The
forest shelters some of the world's most endangered species, including
the jaguar, harpy eagle, giant anteater, giant river otter, anaconda,
black caiman and giant river turtle.
Iwokrama is more than a reserve. It is a living laboratory where
science, conservation, tourism, biodiversity and the needs of the local
community have come together in an experiment to sustainably manage the
forest. It was set up after Guyana offered the one million acre site to
the international community in 1989 and is run by local and foreign
staff. David Singh, a Guyanese conservationist who has run the centre
for three years, is convinced the experiment has been a success. "We
have learnt how to do it and how not to do it – which is often the most
expensive lesson," he says. "The international community could
transform the way we use forests."
The centre attracted heavy funding in its early years but has struggled
more recently as overseas donors shifted their attention from
sustainable development into HIV and Aids projects. The scope of the
scientific work undertaken at the reserve's field station has been
scaled back and Guyana's government had to plunder its own meagre
budget two years ago to keep the reserve going.
But the increasing attention now being paid to climate change is
starting to make Iwokrama look like a project ahead of its time as it
seeks to solve the conundrum of making its trees worth more standing up
than they would be if they were cut down.
A mixture of eco-tourism, non-timber products and business ventures
such as a butterfly farm are bringing in an income. Ron Allicock, a
Makushi ranger at the centre, said: "People come here thinking the
forest is empty, that the place is just full of trees. But it is also
our home."
He thinks Iwokrama could be a model for getting it right in forests
around the world: "We've got to fix the small place first to show we
can fix the big place."
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