By Matt Falloon
Stabroek News
June 22, 2001

The board overseeing the Iwokrama rainforest conservation project has approved its division into a wildlife preservation zone and other forest utilisation areas.

This is being hailed as a huge step by outgoing Director General of the project, David Cassells.

Iwokrama's incoming and outgoing Director-Generals (DGs) paid a visit to the organisation's field station this week to view the facility and meet with staff.

On his way out after a four-year stint in charge of the project, Cassells introduced the rangers and other employees to their new chief, Kathryn Monk, who will begin her tenure later this month.

Arriving under heavy rain on Sunday evening at the station near Kurukupari, the two DGs were eager to reassure staff that despite imminent changes and "short term challenges with budgets" the station would continue to develop.

"Things will be a little tight for the next two months but we have scheduled another Donor's Round Table meeting for later this year or early next year," Cassells said. "Initially, we were supported on promise, but our donors have been impressed with the rangers and what they have seen here and are now prepared to support us on performance."

"Last week, the board formally accepted the zoning recommendations," he continued. These recommendations split the Iwokrama forest into wildlife preservation and forest utilisation areas and represent a huge step for the project, Cassells said.

"We are developing a business prospectus outline which will create potential all over the world to get partners to work with us," he said. "This will generate a lot of income and interest."

"We want our hospitality in this area to be the best in Guyana," he said. "This is still an experiment and we need to work together for it to prosper. We need to expand and everything we do affects that."

"Good impressions of this place filter back to potential supporters," he said. "That is fundamental for eco-tourism and for the local communities to develop."

Head Ranger, Bradford Allicock, expressed the staff's sadness at Cassells' departure.

"We would like to thank you for your performance at Iwokrama and in the neighbouring communities," he said. "We are sorry you are leaving us - it is a hard feeling."

Cassells introduced his successor as a capable and experienced individual who will take the project out of the foundations and into the important operational phase.

"I am glad that someone with a strong background in forest management both in the field and in research has been chosen to replace me," Cassells said. "You are in very good hands."

He explained that Monk's previous project, the Gunung Leuser ecosystem management project based in Sumatra, Indonesia, was approximately six times the size of the Iwokrama forest with over 2.5 million people living on its boundaries. The Leuser project was plagued with many of the problems facing our forests, such as illegal logging and the decline of biodiversity.

Monk greeted her new charges, remarking that her 16 years of experience in the tropics had led her from the role of biologist to conservationist to diplomat and politician.

"The aim of this project is noble," she said, indicating it was a sign that governments are "beginning to think with a broader perspective."

"The wider aim is so exciting and vital," she continued. "Guyana still has so many resources. I am very pleased to join you in this experiment."

"In Indonesia, the government thought development depended on the the use of the forest through timber. If that was the case, Indonesia might have lost the chance. That is not the case here," she remarked.

The two DGs inspected a new training facility onsite which will be used for ranger training as well as a learning base for scientist and student research groups from abroad.

The centre also houses catering facilities where visitors can enjoy dinner al fresco, with a view across the Essequibo.

Cassels and Monk then paid a visit to Stanley Lake on Monday, one of the station's eco-tourism attractions, and were set to visit the Amerindian settlements of Fairview and Surama on Tuesday before flying back to the coast.

"Next time I'll be here as a guest," Cassells quipped.

Iwokrama emerged out of the announcement at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1989 by then President Desmond Hoyte of the setting aside of a million acres of virgin forests for studies on the sustainable use of forests and related areas.