Land, user rights crucial to Kanuku Protected Area
-Conservation International
Stabroek News
September 6, 2002
Unresolved land issues may yet hinder the establishment of a protected area in the Kanuku Mountains, Executive Director of Conservation International-Guyana (CIG), Major General (retired) Joe Singh said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press briefing at CIG’s Georgetown office, Singh said that he did not see the process moving forward unless the issue of Amerindian land rights is addressed. He said CIG was committed to working along with the communities towards the development of the protected area, and said CIG would ensure traditional user rights were preserved.
The consultation phase of the project has been completed and CIG is now in the final stages of the second phase, the Community Resource Evaluation (CRE), which is expected to be completed by November.
Singh said CIG understood that the Kanuku area in Region 9 provided resources for the 18 indigenous communities in the area made up of the Macushi in the north and the Wapishiana tribe in the south. While consultations had been undertaken with numerous agencies including central government, local government, the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Singh said the most important stakeholders were the communities themselves.
CIG officials have made several visits to the communities to explain the concept of a protected area system. Communities were told of the implications and the benefits of the project including guaranteed sustainability and a preservation of their anthropological relations with the mountains.
Having secured their commitment, which entailed the training of several cadres within each community, programmes were run for teachers, village captains and community co-ordinators who would liaise with the CIG.
The resource evaluation phase had been stalled after one of the 18 communities wanted to have the issue of Amerindian land rights addressed first. A compromise had been reached with the government and it was decided that the issue would be examined simultaneously with that of a protected area.
The CRE was then re-launched in May and involves studying the pattern of resource use of each community. Here, CIG teams, visit the communities, gathering information on the concept of seasons for example, the location of sacred burial sites, or how and where hunting, farming, and fishing is done.
This information will be used in the design of the project. So far the CRE has been completed in 11 communities including Sand Creek, Parikwarinawa, Maruranawa, Shulinab, Meriwau and Quiko and Moco Moco. Completion of this phase is expected by November.
Singh noted that any design would fail if it does not recognise these traditional user rights since it would not garner the support of the communities. The data collected in the second phase will then be interpreted; and before a report is submitted to the government, the communities will be consulted to ensure the accuracy of the findings. If an agreement is reached by both government and the communities that a protected area is desirable, then a management plan will be examined on how communities could benefit A management authority would be designated before the actual area was established.
Singh said all work is being conducted in a transparent manner and mentioned that quarterly meetings and regular briefings are held at Lethem with the various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the sub-committee of the Cabinet responsible for natural resources, and the Amerindian People’s Association (APA). He noted the sensitivity attached to such projects, and noted the recent failure to make the Kaieteur National Park a protected area.
He said with the establishment of a management authority, there would be many jobs available.
To date, over $21M has been spent during the first phase of the consultation and $15M on the CRE with a significant amount of the money being put back into the community, on hinterland travel and food.
Singh paid tribute to the Amerindian communities for their natural impulse to conserve the environment without the implementation of legislation.