Guyana must note people-forestry link - consultants say Guyana Chronicle March 30, 2000 GUYANA must be conscious of the global dimensions behind the sustainable management of forest resources, a study has recommended. Consultants from the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD), say the development process should also be associated with the promotion of social benefits for the development of people whose livelihood is tied to the conservation and development of the forests. "The social needs, aspirations and expectations of a variety of social groups, organisations and communities, both hinterland and otherwise, will require analysis and understanding if appropriate policies and consequential actions are to be adopted by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC)," the report stated. The study is designed as a preliminary environmental scan to draft a work plan for a social development programme. The consultants said there are highly complex and sensitive social, economic and political issues associated with forestry in Guyana. "This is understandably so given the extensive area of the country, (76 per cent) or some 16.45 million hectares, which are under forest, and the diversity of economic, social and cultural interests which interact in the sector," the study noted. It said the history of colonial settlement provided the "inevitable conflict over customary land rights of the indigenous peoples, whose livelihoods are fundamentally dependent on conservation and management of forest resources. "The operation of timber enterprises, whether by local or foreign capital, of necessity gives rise to situations characterised by acute differences," the CARICAD study indicated. It said that in these circumstances, the role and responsibilities of a statutory authority as well as of all stakeholders, will require careful and objective analysis to secure a participatory development of the economy and society as a whole, in as equitable a manner as possible. According to CARICAD, the origins of the study review are to be located within the wider context of the Government of Guyana's national development strategy, but specifically the National Forest Policy Statement of October 1997.