Dr. Peter Feinsinger, Adjunct Professor of Biology at Northern Arizona University and long-distance Conservation Fellow with the Wildlife Conservation Society, said that in this case, the citizens will be the people of the North Rupununi who will directly and indirectly be affected by whatever decisions are taken in relation to the use of their forests.

"But in order to apply conservation guidelines, you have to design them," and the best way to set about designing them, he said, "is to sit around the table and examine and compare what will be the consequences of doing this, or this, or that."

And explaining the term `citizen science', he told reporters that too often people conceptualise science as something lofty and beyond the grasp of the average person.

"But 'science' is something that we all do without realising it," he said.

And since the citizens themselves will have a major input in relation to analysing and mapping out guidelines that will influence scientific decisions, on agriculture and conservation, the name 'citizen science' was coined, he said.

The course, also intended to develop environmental monitoring protocols for the North Rupununi and Iwokrama Forest, is to be held at Bina Hill Institute, North Rupununi.

It is being held jointly by the Audubon Society and the Iwokrama Rainforest project centre, with a focus on the use of a novel "cycle of enquiry" in creating local institutional frameworks for environmental monitoring, and building management skills in local communities.

The cyclic research process is one which asks questions about the environment, refines these questions, determine how to answer them, then reflect on the answers, coming up with new questions, Audubon officials explained.

The participants at this course will include wildlife club members teachers, Iwokrama Rangers, University of Guyana Biology graduates, and Community Environmental workers.

Assisting Feinsinger will be Mr. Ricardo Stanoss who works with the Latin American/Caribbean Programme International Audubon Society in the USA. Stanoss is originally from Argentina, and like Feinsinger, has worked in the United States on school yard ecology for a number of years.

Simply, Feinsinger said, 'citizen science', refers to "a group of approaches to environmental management that directly involves ordinary people, rather than relying on trained expert scientists." He sees it as an important component of effective resource management, which includes mapping by local citizens; understanding traditional systems; and the involvement of local people in environmental monitoring.

The workshop is a follow-up to "School yard ecology" introduced here in September, 2001, on an earlier visit by Feinsinger.

He recalled that on that occasion, the programme was primarily for school children, and was conducted in the yards of five schools in Georgetown, bringing together children from across the country.

Professor Feinsinger said the response to that learning environment for children was overwhelming.

He also credited highly, the input of Ms. Lorna McPherson of the Ministry of Education, adding: "If we could get a Lorna in every country, we would complete the world by now."

The official reported that the teachers involved in the programme were all very enthusiastic, but said that it was unfortunate that there was no follow-up after they would have returned to their regions.

To this end, he said, it is hoped that the course will be expanded to other areas of Guyana by next year.

Asserting that the sky is the limit, Audubon says that all over Latin America, for example, educators are promoting "school yard ecology" as a way to build a greater sense of environmental awareness in the next generation.

The programme utilises the collective endeavours of Audubon Society, Iwokrama, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the North Rupununi District Development Board, working for the development of a citizen science environmental monitoring programme for the Iwokrama Forest and North Rupununi ecosystems.

Professor Feinsinger said that he hopes to see, coming out of the workshop, a lot questions from the citizens which will address such matters as: how are they going to do certain things in relation to sustainable development; when, where and how are they going to go about conservation.

All these should be ready, he said, so that by the next day, they should know exactly what it is they are going to do, to better manage their environment.

Feinsinger was trained as an Ecologist at Cornell University and has worked since 1971 in many landscapes in Central and South America and the Caribbean - first performing research on themes in basic ecology, and more recently, participating in projects in conservation ecology, training and public education.

After serving as Professor of Zoology and Courtesy Professor of Latin American Studies at the University of Florida for 10 years, he retired from that position in 1992, "in order to work more directly with people", in South America in particular, encouraging them to use the hands - their God given tools in promoting sustainable development," he said.

Meanwhile, another group, headed by Ms. Sally Conyne, of Audubon, is also to be in the North Rupununi.

She is Director of Citizen Society and co-ordinates a number of projects in North and South America and the Caribbean. These include data collection, education, scientific study and related projects.

Ms. Conyne has been working in Guyana since 1995, on various projects, including inventorising, doing the study of biodiversity and tourist related projects, and more recently brought down Professor Feinsinger.

Conyne and her team of about six young people plan being in the North Rupunuuni for two weeks, observing wildlife farms, club houses, and doing treks along the trails.