It has been estimated that 11 million hectares of mature tropical forests of which 7.5 million are rain forests, are converted each year to other uses. The great majority is changed into non-forest uses with only 600,000 hectares becoming timber plantations. In addition, much tropical forest is degraded every year, perhaps 4.5 million hectares through selective logging, the vast majority of this receiving no subsequent active management. Human disturbance has increased to an alarming level over the last decades and has become a major issue for burgeoning conservation movements

The belief that rain forests have existed largely unchanged for millions of years is now seen to be a myth. At one end of the temporal spectrum, forests have ebbed and flowed over Asia, Africa and America; at the other, changes due to local disturbances - storms, landslides, or, the death of individual trees, result in the forest being an ever changing mosaic.

Over the past two decades our understanding of the functioning of the rainforest ecosystem has increased enormously. Many are now convinced that managing these forests for sustainable economic benefit is feasible, and that such management will provide much greater long-term security for people than the present pattern of forest destruction. Yet, only a very small proportion of the forest is managed in any real sense of the word, this failure being due primarily to political, administrative and socio-economic causes.

Guyana has a total land area of 21.5 million hectares (168,000 sq. km) of which 76% (16.45 million ha) is forested. The state forest, administered by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) accounts for about 13.59 million ha of which 48% is used for logging and the remaining 52% is divided among state lands, Amerindian lands and private property. Also, it is estimated that exploitable forests comprise 3.6 million ha of which 2.4 million ha have been allocated for harvests. The ‘unexploitable’ forests given existing technology amount to 2.5 million ha and the forests that are potentially exploitable but lack accessibility are about 10.4 million ha.

The spatial differentiation in the ecological patterns of Guyana’s forests is reflected in the climatic and geomorphic variability of the country. The geographic configuration has contributed to the growth of five major types of forests. These are rainforests (36%), montane forests (35%), dry evergreen forests (7%), seasonal forests (6%), mangrove forests (1%) and other marsh forests (15%). Most of the forests in the country are said to be in a pristine state.

One of the potential areas of opportunities and difficulties of the forested areas of Guyana is the multiplicity of uses to which it has been put over the past decades. The current uses include the harvesting of forest products, agriculture, eco-tourism, research, biodiversity reserves, protected areas, hunting and gathering and mining. The forests have also been the home for the indigenous peoples of Guyana for hundreds of years. However, while this diversity of use of the forests has brought some positive economic results, there are still many unresolved socio-economic issues to be addressed

With respect to the positive economic aspects, data have shown that the forestry sector has been steadily increasing its contribution to the national economy over the past decade. For example, between 1990 and 1999, the contribution of the sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew steadily from 2.1% to 4.17%. For the same period also, earnings from the sector increased by almost 300% from US$71.0 million to US$225 million. The growth of the sector has been primarily due to the output from the Barama plywood company.

One of the major constraints to the growth and development of the forestry sector in Guyana is the high incidence of mixed, high-density hardwood trees. This limits the commercial potential of traditional logging operations. In addition, because of poor accessibility in the far inland areas, most of the exploitable forests in the near inland areas where rivers are navigable and roads exist have been logged. The result is that it has become quite difficult for logging companies, especially the small family-owned businesses to continue operating successfully. Recently many of them have faced liquidation.

For the larger and more productive logging operations in Guyana, there are some new challenges with which they are confronted. There is now increasing competition from companies in the countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia. These companies have been able to re-capitalize and modernize their operation, making them much more productive. Thus, they are now able to make inroads into markets traditionally enjoyed by local logging companies. In addition, a number of timber importers are now requesting certified timber from the exporters. In Guyana work in now being undertaken with the financial and technical support of WWF to assist Guyanese timber companies in becoming certified. In the meantime, some markets have been lost and there is the danger that others may also disappear, to the detriment of the local industry.

Finally, there is the social dimension of the forestry sector that has to be dealt with in Guyana. As observed, the indigenous populations occupying the forests depend upon them for their livelihood. The presence of these inhabitants in the forest has led to much conflict with the government with respect to implementing state policies in areas of forest conservation and the use of the forest resources. The result is that through court proceedings, and representations at international fora, government policies for the establishment of protected areas and the conservation and sustainable management of Guyana’s forests have been seriously contained.

The Guyana Forestry Commission along with DIFD and the WWF have been working to ensure that companies use environmental best practices in the utilisation of our forest resources. In this regard the Commission recently established two new units, one at Mabaruma and the other at Parika at the coat of G$9.1m and G$19m respectfully to enhance monitoring operations while a two-week training programme in Belem, Para, Brazil seeks to ensure that all logging operations are in conformity with emerging ecological, technological and social considerations. With time, the social concerns will receive similarly adequate attention thereby ensuring that lifestyles and ecosystems are not threatened to the point of extinction.

Tropical rain forest cover approximately 16 million hectares of the Guyana’s land area.

Deforestation rates in Guyana rank among the lowest in the world although several large forest concessions have been granted to Asian companies since the early 1990’s

Tropical rain forests are one of the richest eco systems that the world has ever known. The great number of species that form them is the reason for their fascination to people, their value to the biosphere and the complexity of their proper management. The land that they occupy and the value of just one of their many useful products - timber - are the reasons why they are rapidly disappearing. It has been estimated that 11 million hectares (ha) of mature tropical forests of which 7.5 million ha are rain forests , are converted each year to other uses. The great majority is changed into non-forest uses only 600,000 ha becoming timber plantations in addition, much tropical forest is degraded every year perhaps 4.5 million ha through selective logging, the vast majority of this receiving no subsequent active management . Human disturbance has increased to an alarming level over the last decades and has become a major issue for burgeoning conservation movements

The belief that rain forests have existed largely unchanged for millions of years is now seen to be a myth. At one end of the temporal spectrum, forests have ebbed and flowed over Asia, Africa and America; at the other, changes due to local disturbances - storms, landslides, or, the death of individual trees, result in the fret being an ever changing mosaic of gaps, trees growing up in former gaps and mature forest.

Over the past two decades our understanding of the functioning of the rainforest ecosystem has increased enormously. Many are now convinced that managing these forests for sustainable economic benefit is feasible, and that such management will provide much greater long-term security for people than the present pattern of forest destruction. Yet, only a very small proportion of the forest is managed in any real sense of the word, this failure being primarily due to political, administrative and socio-economic causes.

Guyana is situated on the northeastern coast of South America between 0o 45’ and 8 38 north latitude and 56 32 and 61 22 west longitude. The area of Guyana is 214 970 km2, and the population is strongly concentrated on the narrow strip along the coast. The climate is tropical with a mean temperature of 26. Annual rainfall is approximately 2700 mm/year and concentrated in two periods: May -August and December - February.