Guyana boasts high forest cover, low deforestation rates - only one of few such remaining countries in the world

Guyana boasts high forest cover, low deforestation rates
- only one of few such remaining countries in the world
By Mark Ramotar
Guyana Chronicle, 21 August 2007

Charge d' Affaires in the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown Mr. Michael Thomas
addressing participants during yesterday’s course opening at the GFC in
Georgetown.
AGRICULTURE Minister Robert Persaud yesterday declared that Guyana is
one of the few remaining countries in the world that can boast of high
forest cover and low deforestation rates.


He said Guyana is also recognised by the International Tropical Timber
Organization (ITTO) as one of only six tropical forest producing
countries that have taken substantial steps to implement sustainable
forest management practices at the level of the forest management unit
(concession level).

Persaud said these successes can be attributed to many factors,
including proactive approaches to forest management and the active
collaboration of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) with other
Government of Guyana agencies and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
and other stakeholders.

Other factors, he said, include working continuously with many partners
to build capacity within the sector, improve practices and promote
better environmental compliance.

The Agriculture Minister made these disclosures during his address at
the opening of a week-long training course on the ‘Principles of
Environmental Compliance and Law Enforcement within the Forestry
sector’ being held at the GFC’s Boardroom in Kingston, Georgetown.

“Although this collaboration and cooperation is good, we recognise that
there is still room for improvement in the area of environmental
compliance and enforcement,” he told participants.

The minister acknowledged that the vast expanse of Guyana’s forest
resources, remoteness and limited infrastructure in some areas, has the
potential to present challenges to environmental compliance and
enforcement from periodically.

“It is for this reason, that this training course is timely and most
opportune,” he declared.

“We see this as an opportunity to share experiences and approaches, and
to examine what strategies can be adapted to Guyana's situation,” he
told the participants.

The Agriculture Minister stressed that effective environmental
compliance and enforcement also requires competent human resources as
well as relevant equipment, and appropriate technology.

“This is an area where we would like to improve collaboration with our
United States (U.S.) partners and we see this course as a first step to
a wider collaboration with the U.S Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the U.S. Forest Service,” Persaud asserted.

“The Government of Guyana has always held the view that utilization of
the state forest resources are vital for our social and economic
development, but this utilization must be in keeping with environmental
best practices,” he told the gathering.

As such, many guidelines to promote sustainable forest management have
been developed by the GFC, through a broad national stakeholder
consultation process, using generic information from internationally
recognized organizations and adapting them to the Guyana-specific
situation, he said.


Some of the participants of the Forestry course.
The Agriculture Minister said Government has also developed through
thoroughly consultative processes, important policy documents such as
the National Forest Policy and a Draft National Forest Plan.


He noted that the importance assigned by the Government to the forest
sector is demonstrated by the fact that in 1979, the Government
established the Guyana Forestry Commission, a semi-autonomous agency,
to manage the state forest estate.

In addition, he said the Government, in collaboration with many donors,
engaged in a process of institutional strengthening and restructuring
of the GFC during the period 1996-2000.

Persaud also drew attention to some very important processes that were
undertaken around that same period, including the revision of the GFC
Bill and the Forests Bill.

“Both of these bills were updated to make them more dynamic and
appropriate to the immense advances that had occurred in the forest
sector, both locally and internationally,” he posited.

UNIQUE FORESTRY COURSE
The course itself is a collaborative effort of several partners,
including the Ministry of Agriculture through the Guyana Forestry
Commission, the U.S. Embassy in Guyana, the U.S. Department of State's
South American Regional Environmental Affairs Office, and the U.S. EPA.

The course is expected to provide a framework for designing effective
environmental compliance strategies and enforcement programs especially
with respect to forestry issues in Guyana.

The training will also examine case studies that illustrate barriers to
compliance and describe ways to bring about positive changes for
environmental compliance.

Charge d' Affaires in the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown Mr. Michael
Thomas, in his remarks, described the course as “unique” and the “first
course of this type” being sponsored here by so many stakeholders from
the U.S. along with the local stakeholders.

“I want to welcome all of the participants here today. You represent
more than a dozen organizations that play a role in environmental
compliance and enforcement in Guyana,” he told the participants.

He noted that this course is especially important for Guyana where 75%
of Guyana’s land area is covered with natural vegetation, and where
most of that land is classified as state forests and under the
management of GFC.

“Guyana’s forest represents an amazing resource (and) Guyana has one of
only four remaining pristine primary forests in the world, home to an
amazing array of fora and fauna,” the U.S. Embassy official declared.

He noted that the World Summit on Sustainable Development that was held
in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002, emphasized that sustainable
development begins with good domestic governance. Good governance
requires the support of national and local government, local
communities and all those who access these areas.

“This course will help to build capacity to enforce forestry-related
laws and build on good governance at all levels,” Thomas told the
participants.

Forestry Commissioner Mr. James Singh, in his remarks, thanked all
stakeholders responsible for the design of the training programme on
the principles of environmental law and enforcement.

He said the Guyana Forestry Commission is pleased to note that the
participants have been selected from a wide range of organizations, all
of which have an important role to play in the sustainable management
and utilization of Guyana’s natural resources, especially forest
resources.

&The GFC has always held the view that all stakeholders must work
together harmoniously and in a very coordinated manner so as to ensure
that whilst there is multiple use of our natural resources, this is not
done in a very compatible manner and using as far as is possible
environmental best practices,” he posited.

Another crucial issue the training programme is expected to focus on,
he said, is the issue of enforcement.

&In the forestry sector, the GFC has established numerous guidelines
which stakeholders are expected to comply with (and) a lot of the
training has been provided to the stakeholders to equip them with the
skills necessary to implement these guidelines on the ground,” he said.

He said, too, that enforcement is seen as a very important component in
the activities of the GFC - not only to ensure that the guidelines are
implemented on the ground, but also as part of its plan to encourage
and prompt sustainable forest management.

&We are aware that a lot has been done in Guyana, but we are also
cognizant that many lessons can be learnt from the experiences of
others, and that our systems and procedures are dynamic and in need of
constant improvement,” Singh declared.

He said the GFC looks forward to actively participating in this course
and to the benefits that will be obtained through the actual training
and multi-stakeholder discussions.

The facilitators of the course are two Washington-based lawyers working
with the U.S. EPA, Ms. Susan Bromm and Ms. Karin Leff.