Better enforcement of forest laws hoped for following seminar

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56527422

Better enforcement of forest laws hoped for following seminar
Stabroek News
Friday, August 24th 2007

The participants and facilitators pose for a photograph at the end of
the course yesterday. (Photo courtesy of US Embassy, Georgetown)

A number of persons from various Government agencies, NGOs and business
entities yesterday completed training in environmental compliance and
enforcement run by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
and held at the Guyana Forestry Commission, Kingston, over the course
of three days.

The training course, entitled 'Principles of Environ-mental Compliance
and En-forcement' was conducted by Susan Bromm, Director of the Office
of Site Remedia-tion Enforcement in the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and Karin Leff, Deputy Director Regional Support Division,
also of the US EPA.

The course was facilitated by the Embassy of the United States in
Guyana, the US Department of State's South America Regional Affairs
Office and the US EPA, in collaboration with the Ministry of
Agriculture and the Guyana Forestry Commission.

The training provided a framework for designing effective environmental
compliance strategies and en-forcement programmes especially with
respect to forestry issues in Guyana.

The training examined case studies that illustrate barriers to
compliance and described ways to bring about positive changes for
environmental compliance.

One of the participants Eustace Alexander of Conservation International
said that the course looked at the principles of environmental laws and
enforcement of those laws should transgressions arise.

He said that the goal of the programme is to train countries like
Guyana in enforcement of the environmental laws.

According to the Conservation International staffer, the participants
are expected to be better equipped and enabled to design and implement
en-forcement programmes. He said that the course also entailed a
training of trainers who are now expected to go back to their
respective workplace and implement what they have learnt.

He said that some of the issues brought up during the training included
illegal trading in wildlife, illegal logging, spills of hazardous
materials into waterways and on land and other environmental issues.

Assistant Commissioner of Forests at the Guyana Forestry Commission
Deonarine Ramsaroop said that the programme was well executed in his
estimation and much came out of it.

Bromm said that the course was a discussion of concepts and she
described it as being very interactive.

She said that the course has been developed in the US and the
Netherlands and has been translated and taken to 24 countries around
the world.