This was announced by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon at a press briefing last Wednesday.

“The consultation plan will involve the communities, their representatives, their leadership, likely to be affected by the creation of the Protected Area in Southern Guyana. The indigenous peoples and the RDC (Regional Democratic Council) in Region 9 (Upper Mazaruni/Upper Takutu) and state and Government agencies are also involved,” Dr. Luncheon reported.

State agencies such as the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ministries of Amerindian Affairs and Local Government and Regional development and the Office of the President, which directly oversees the project will be conducting the consultations, the HPS disclosed. He added that Guyanese anthropologist, who is conversant in the Wai-Wai language will be the primary facilitator in the consultation process.

An MOU was signed between the Government and Conservation International of Guyana (CI) in November last year to formalise the commitment of the parties in the establishment of a Protected Area in Southern Guyana.

The MOU recognises the global importance of Guyana’s biodiversity and notes that the long-term scientific and ecological value of intact primary forests exceeds the short-term benefit of revenues through extractive industries.

The two parties in accordance with the MOU will collaborate on the development of a Management Plan and a long-term Financial Vehicle to finance the implementation of the Plan. The deadline set for the declaration of the Protected Area is on or prior to June 30 this year.

Guyana became only the second country in the world to sell its forests for conservation purposes, with the granting of a 200,000 acre concession in the Upper Essequibo watershed to Conservation International (CI) in July last year. It is also one of the few countries of the world which has 80-90 % of its forest resources intact.

Peru is the other country that has sold forests for conservation purposes.

President of the Washington-based CI, Dr. Russell Mittermeier had said during his visit to Guyana: “Rather than trying to generate income from them by cutting them down, we want to demonstrate that one can generate income from forests by protecting them.”

President Bharrat Jagdeo stated that the granting of the forestry concession is in keeping with Guyana’s national forestry policy, one objective of which is the conservation of ecosystems, biodiversity and the environment.

He also said that protection of forests and biodiversity is not unique to Guyana, citing the Commonwealth funded Iwokrama Rainforest Conservation Programme.

Although not a requirement, CI, through a voluntary Community Investment fund will be providing some US$10,000 annually for the community.

In October 2000, the GFC granted CI an exploratory permit to study the potential for forest conservation of the 200, 000 acre forest located along the Essequibo River, in southeastern Guyana.

CI has fulfilled the requirements for being granted the 30-year lease and will now establish a presence in the area to facilitate the implementation of its conservation programme in accordance with an approved management plan.