A Quick Look at Guyana's Biodiversity At the Global Level Guyana Chronicle July 9, 1999 The number of species in the world is estimated to be between five and 30 million. The range is large because of the difficulty of estimating certain groups of organisms, for example it is estimated that there are between five-10 million insects. Of the total number of species on the globe, about 1.4 million have been identified, of which 850,000 are insects, 40,000 are vertebrates, 250,000 are plants, and 360,000 are microbiota. The Amazon region, to which Guyana is a part, covers about seven per cent of the earth's surface, but its tropical forests contain more than one-half of all life forms. The following figures have been generally accepted: 60,000 species of higher plants, 2,500,000 species of arthropods, 2,000 fish species, 2,750 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 300 mammalian species. At the National Level Guyana's relatively rich biological diversity and high endemism are due to four factors: (1) its location at the edge of the biologically outstanding Amazon basin; (2) its overlying position on the geologically old Guiana shield; (3) its position on the Atlantic seaboard of South America, and therefore its marine/coastal environment; and (4) its history of low incidence and intensity of conversion of natural habitats. The true extent of Guyana's biodiversity is still, however, a matter of conjecture. The Country Study of Biological Diversity, provides the only consolidated documentation on the country's biological diversity. This document is now obsolete, because several initiatives have since been taken to inventorise the country's life forms which have provided additional data that substantially update the level of our knowledge. The study's current utility is that it provides baseline data and seen against the backdrop of the rich biodiversity of the region, indicates that there is an enormous amount of work to be done in cataloguing the country's share of that richness. Even with the limited knowledge of the country's biodiversity richness, it is safely suggested that this biodiversity has been reasonably well preserved. The country's low population, its low level of industrialisation, and the technology applied in most sectors, are factors which would have contributed to the preservation of this biodiversity. However, increased business activities involving the natural resource sectors will place greater pressure on Guyana's biological resources, and all efforts must be made to ensure in some cases conservation and preservation, and in all cases sustainable use of our natural and biological resources. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples