The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)- Guianas has signed grant agreements with three local entities including Barama Company Limited (BCL) under its Guianas Sustainable Forest Resources Management Project (GSFRMP).
The BCL grant totals $30.97M; the Guyana Forestry Commission will receive $30.92M and the soon to be established Guyana National Initiative for Forest Certification (GNIFC) $665,000.
Signing on behalf of the BCL was Managing Director James Keylon and for the GFC and the GNIFC was the GFC finance controller Edward Goberdhan. WWF-Guianas Director, Michelet Fontaine signed on behalf of the WWF. The signing took place at the Georgetown Club yesterday.
Fontaine said funding for the project was made available under a four-year US$5.23M project funded by the FFEM (French Environmental Fund, the DGIS (the Dutch Environmental Fund) and the WWF.
The project has four major components, namely, sustainable forest management, gold-mining pollution abatement, protected areas effective management and regional integration.
Funding for Barama will go towards forestry management which will include bio-diversity conservation, social issues, land use, resource use and the training of staff and the development of manuals for training all with the objective of achieving forest management certification in February. The GFC has approved the company’s forestry management plan.
According to Barama’s forest management officer Luvendra Sukraj, Barama has already embarked on a process of certification for forest management and manufacturing. Noting that BCL accounts for more than 50% of the value of forest products exported from Guyana, he said certification has become a major issue, “a way of doing business”, in the big markets. BCL exports its products to the UK, North America, the Caribbean and parts of South America. The loss of revenue for Barama without certification, he said could have a significant impact on the local economy. BCL is the largest timber company in the Guianas.
Funding for the GFC will go towards institutional strengthening, training and to enhance monitoring capacity among other areas while the funding for the GNIFC will be used for legal fees. Fontaine noted that the GNIFC is not yet a legal entity but once registered, it will be provided with further funding.
Fontaine announced that the other set of grant agreements to be signed will include the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society. The GSFRMP was launched in Paramaribo, Suriname last month where a grant agreement in the sum of US$110,000 was signed with the Foundation for Nature Conservation in Suriname (STINASU). Minister of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock, Satyadeow Sawh was present at the launching.
Delivering the main address at the signing ceremony yesterday, Sawh commended the efforts of the WWF and the parties now involved in sustainable development.
He said the government did not wish “our pristine forest to remain pristine like a statue for people to come and commend us for conservation. That would be nice but at the end of the day we are still a poor country with many people living in abject poverty.”
As a government, he said infrastructure and other mechanisms have to be put in place to help the people out of the poverty.
Noting that more than 65% of the country’s land mass was forested and that even after 150 years of logging the forests remain in an almost pristine way, Sawh said the government intends to keep it that way by instituting policies to reflect the concerns and needs of the environment and the society as well.
By taking note of the rape of resources of some countries, particularly in Asia and South America, he said “we have looked and have learnt and we will not make the mistake that others have made and are paying dearly for today.” Lack of proper strategic planning allowed their resources to become so depleted that they have had to put a complete stop to logging in some places, he noted.
The Guyana Government was cognisant of the need to sustainably exploit the country’s natural resources and to this end has been able to enhance the GFC as the guardian and custodian of the forest resources.
Over the past few years, the GFC, he said, has been able to put out a new forest policy and draft forestry legislation reflecting contemporary thinking and new approaches to forest management and environmental concerns.
He spoke of a number of achievements of the GFC which included improved forest management tools, updated vegetation maps, improved concession administration systems, more structured forest monitoring systems and improved staff training.
He noted the work done by the government in collaboration with several entities including the Holland-based Tropenbos which contributed significantly to the knowledge base of forest resources and capacity building. The government is currently working with the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development in refashioning its programme to ensure it sustains itself from its own resources.
He announced that plans are currently in train to rename the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Guyana the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry.