Over-exploitation of forests a myth - Minister Persaud

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Guyana Chronicle, 29 May 2007

Over-exploitation of forests a myth
- Minister Persaud

Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud has rejected the view that
Guyana’s forests are over-utilised, as statistics from the Guyana
Forestry Commission (GFC) indicate that extraction is just above 20
percent of the acceptable rate.

The Minister made the remarks at the Skeldon Sugar Estate during a
meeting with Region Six forestry stakeholders at the weekend.

Commissioner of GFC, James Singh, Chairman of GFC’s Board of Directors,
Tarachand Balgobin and Director of the Forest Products Marketing
Council (FPMC), Luvindra Sukhraj were among those at the meeting.

“So this notion that we are over-foresting, over-exploiting and
chopping down logs while the Guyana Forestry Commission and nobody is
doing anything is just a myth because the records are there for us to
see,” the Minister told the gathering.

He said there is great potential for further advancement of the
forestry sector, which is increasingly becoming a major contributor to
the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This sector creates
employment for thousands, generates income, earns foreign exchange and
is an asset to mitigate the effects of climate change, he added.

In this regard, Government has been undertaking initiatives to address
some of the challenges facing the sector. Critical to its sustainable
development is the need to ensure compliance with standards and
requirements at both the local and international levels, and this must
be brought about by changes in forestry practices and principles.

In the upcoming months, the GFC Bill and Act will be taken to
Parliament for amendment. In addition, a log export policy is currently
being developed to ensure that: Guyana gets maximum returns on all logs
exported, that exploitation of endangered species is controlled and
lesser used species are promoted.

Consultations on log-export have been held country-wide and a position
has already been taken.

Government has also been encouraging value-added and other processing
activities. There are attractive incentives for investors and
manufacturers in this regard. Measures are being implemented to deal
with companies/investors who have failed to meet their commitment for
processing, manufacturing or down stream activities outlined in the
initial agreement.

&There are mechanisms that once you are unable to honour your
commitment or your obligations, we will work with you to get some sort
of arrangement. This goes both for the local and foreign investors; but
once these opportunities are given and have been exhausted, we’ll take
action,” the Minister said.

Balgobin highlighted the difficulties facing small loggers and
emphasised the need for the formation of groups to assist these
individuals to attain success and further development of their
activities.

He assured that the GFC and its associates, including the FPMC, are
committed to working with the loggers to develop clusters through which
there will be significant progress.

Minister Persaud presented certificates to 17 persons of Region Six who
recently completed timber grading courses held by the GFC from March 21
to 27. This was done as part of the Commission’s country-wide programme
to ensure that all the necessary requirements are fulfilled prior to
timber being exported.

According to Commissioner Singh, initial evaluation is done by the
timber graders while the final verification is done by GFC and if there
are continuous inconsistencies in the assessment done, the grader’s
licence may be revoked.

A similar training session was done in Essequibo where approximately 10
persons were certified and another is planned for Georgetown where 35
persons are scheduled to participate. (GINA)