In the midst of all the madness - crime, protests, looting, burning - there comes, literally, a breath of fresh air. Conservation International (CI) announced this week that it has made arrangements to lease a remote 200,000-acre plot of land in Guyana's forest for preservation.
Executive Director of CI Guyana, Joe Singh, making the announcement at a press briefing this week, revealed that the land was being leased under a 30-year renewable Timber Sales Agreement, since there was no legislation in place to allow for it to be acquired as a conservation concession. This should be remedied. The company will pay acreage fees of US$40,000 a year and royalty fees of US$ll,000 a year though it will not of course be involved in any logging or other income generating operations.
Guyana took its place among countries concerned about the environment, when then president Desmond Hoyte made an offer the world could not refuse at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malaysia in 1989. The result? The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development, an area encompassing about 3,700 sq. kilometres (370,000 ha/ almost one million acres) covered in lush, pristine, lowland tropical forest. A special act was passed, on March 14, 1996 (by which time Mr Hoyte was no longer head of state) in the National Assembly - the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development Act - which had the unanimous approval of both sides of the house. The late Cheddi Jagan, who was then president, signed it into law on May 12, 1996.
Since Iwokrama was first conceptualized the warnings on destruction of the environment through deforestation and the emission of greenhouse gases and the impact of climates change on the economy, particularly for developing countries, have grown more and more dire. In 1997, in Kyoto, Japan a treaty was signed, which mandated that 37 industrialised nations cut greenhouse gas emissions. The United States, fingered as the world's largest producer of these gases was mandated to reduce its level by 33 per cent. However, last year US President George W. Bush abandoned the treaty, claiming that it had set unrealistic goals which could damage the US economy. He has since back-tracked slightly, unveiling a plan, which rewards with incentives, US businesses that voluntarily reduce emissions by 4.5 per cent over ten years.
Guyana is not a producer of greenhouse gases, but its economy, which is agriculturally based, stands to suffer as a result of climate change. While much of this is irreversible and Guyana must do all it can to put protective measures in place, particularly along its coastline, initiatives like Iwokrama and the imminent one by CI can make a difference. Posterity will thank us.
It would also help if comprehensive conservation/preservation legislation were passed so that the issue would not have to be addressed every time land is to be set aside for environmental purposes. Mr Singh expressed the hope that CI's initiative would open a chapter for other investors to see the conservation of standing forests as a feasible option to protect bio-diversity and to generate income for socio-economic development. CI raises funds from companies and individuals dedicated to the preservation of the environment.