Michael Gilkes: Joe, what does 'conservation of our natural heritage' really mean in practical terms, and what is CIG doing about it?

Joe Singh: Conservation of our natural heritage means exactly that. Being responsible for conserving and taking care of, in a practical way, the natural resources we are blessed with: our forests, rivers, waterfalls, beaches and the tremendous variety of plants and animals that live in this biodiverse eco-system called planet earth.

MG: What does 'biodiverse eco-system' mean in layman's terms?

JS: Well, biodiversity refers to the rich variety of life that we find on earth. All of it is linked within a web, a global network of life we all share. The eco-system is this network of plant and animal species which are interdependent, and we are, of course, a part of it. Guyana's interior is a location of significant biodiversity. The Guyana Shield alone represents one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems in the world. Yet Guyana is one of the few countries in the world still to establish a network of protected areas.

MG: What's the Guyana Shield?

JS: It's a belt of land, of pre-Cambrian geological origin, unique in its flora and fauna, running from Colombia through Venezuela and the Guianas down to Amapa in Brazil. This belt of land is estimated to be around two billion years old. Guyana's ecosystem is part of that larger landscape and CIG is working and collaborating with communities, scientists, decision-makers and the secretariat of the National Protected Areas system to address the urgent need to establish protected areas in Guyana.

The conviction was impressive, even passionate. But then I thought, how can anyone expect us coastlanders with our ingrained urban habits of littering and dumping, to think about 'preserving the Nation's Heritage' or to take on board the 'biodiversity of the ecosystem'? I decided to wade right in. Devil's advocate.

MG: Well, Joe, I'm sure most people would agree that we shouldn't spoil the natural beauty of Guyana. But don't most of us think of the 'interior' as Kaieteur, Shell beach, lake Mainstay, Timberhead, Baganara island and other interior 'resorts'? Places where we can go to relax, have fun and get away from the hassles of Georgetown? We don't think about their 'biodiversity' or their role in our environmental heritage, do we?

JS: Well Michael, that's part of the problem we are trying to address. At the same time that we're working with other agencies to set up protected areas, we have to educate the public about the need for conservation. There are government organisations already in place that have set up standards and regulations as guidelines. I'm also on the board of the National Trust, for example, and there's the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, which is concerned with State responsibility and national objectives. Some of these have already been identified. Georgetown itself is soon to come under consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are plans to preserve and reconstruct certain monuments dating from the pre-Columbian era, old Dutch forts, historical sites of cultural significance and some of the beautiful wooden colonial architecture that has survived from 'Old Georgetown.' CIG will be collaborating on that too. Even when I was still in the army I collaborated with the late Denis Williams on the conservation of Fort Nassau on the Berbice river. I also took video footage in 1994 warning of the serious pollution of the Konawaruk river. Today, the Konawaruk river is, ecologically speaking, dead!!

MG: How much of this is public knowledge? I must say it's news to me.

JS: One of the national environmental objectives is public awareness and education. These ideas will be also introduced into the school system. CIG along with UNESCO, has sponsored a special bookshelf in the Public free library; we supplied them with books mainly on biodiversity aimed at CXC and 'A' level students. We also organise Summer camps with that focus for teachers and students. We collaborate with other partners to support environmental clubs in schools nationwide.

MG: Well, it's important to get the message across to our youth. But is that enough? What about the adults? We've developed some well-ingrained bad habits where conservation and respect for the environment are concerned.

JS: I agree. That's not enough. It's no good just telling people how they should treat the environment. We need certain regulatory agencies to be put in place to enforce good habits. Public awareness must be backed by legislation. And monitoring. We also need to organise facilities for re-cycling. Did you know that one bottling manufacturer has a recycling facility for plastics? They are able to make a raw material out of processed plastic which can be used for making building bricks. That material is presently sent to Trinidad. Suriname has made a success of recycling using 'skips' outside of schools and involving the children in competitions on environmental awareness. Suriname also produces a brick containing recycled plastic. There's a lot we can do. Of course the same kind of legislation and regulatory practices should apply to the interior.

MG: OK, Getting back to the interior. What successes has CIG had so far with its attempts to create protected areas? We've seen on TV recently and read about the recent signing of an agreement between the government and CIG to establish an area of 200,000 acres in the upper Essequibo region as a conservation concession. Does that mean it will become a protected area? Who's to be protected from what?

JS: Well, first of all, this concession is a first for Guyana, and only the second of its kind in the world. The government, through the Guyana Forestry Commission, has signed the agreement with Conservation International as part of its National Forest Policy. CIG will develop and monitor the concession, which is based on a TSA or Timber Sales Agreement establishing the concession.

MG: A timber sales agreement? That sounds like a contradiction, Joe. How can logging and selling timber be conservation? It means cutting down trees. Isn't that what CIG is trying to stop others from doing?

JS: OK. Let me explain how a TSA works in this case. The Timber Sales Agreement gives CI access to 200,000 acres of pristine forests in the southern Guyana region. But CI will not log the area. It will be maintained in its pristine state and used to create maximum environmental value through alternative methods of land use. This is in direct contrast to traditional logging practices.

MG: Why is a Timber Sales Agreement needed if there won't be any logging?

JS: Well, the TSA - normally granted to logging operations - is the only legal instrument available at this time until the Forestry Act is amended to make legal provision for a conservation concession. So CI has secured the concession this way, and has already paid the annual royalties and acreage fees as required by law. It's a unique method of securing conservation as well as a way of showing the world how to capitalise on natural resources without destroying those resources in the process. As I said, this is the first time that this methodology has been tried in Guyana, and only the second time in the world.

MG: What was the first, and where was it tried?

JS: At Los Amigos in Peru.

MG: You mentioned alternative methods of capitalising on the environment other than logging. What are some of the alternatives?

JS: It depends on the area's resources. In certain areas balata craft is booming. It's an industry that is environmentally friendly. So is the use of lianas and tibisiri for furniture and other artifacts. Or take eco-tourism: marketing the living landscape, as the Makushi are doing in Surama. There is a growing interest among the citizens of countries which have no 'green image' to visit pristine areas such as ours. It is also possible to attract funding for conservation from big companies with an interest in acquiring an environmentally friendly image. Some of the petrol companies are already doing that. By investing in the retention of forests, they are able to earn 'carbon credits.'

MG: What do you mean by 'carbon credits'? You mean carbon dioxide?

JS: Yes. It means gaining credit to help offset the 'debit' balance of factory emissions of carbon dioxide, a pollutant, for instance, resulting from vehicle exhaust fumes. That kind of 'green' investment allows them to subscribe, in a way, to the Kyoto Protocol. There are also philanthropic individuals with international status, like Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones, who is actually a member of the CI organisation), who are willing to use their popular appeal to promote environmental health and biodiversity programmes. Guyana is well-placed to attract that kind of environmental capital.

MG: Joe, how do the Amerindians themselves feel about these projects and 'protected areas'? It's hard to avoid a whiff of paternalism in the sound of that word 'protected' - like the word 'reservations.'

JS: Michael, the Amerindians are well ahead of us in understanding the role of humans as the trustees of the environment. They have a holistic view of the natural world. The Wai Wai, for example, know the dangers of sediment-loading that mining operations can bring. They see themselves as the custodians of the headwaters of the Essequibo river, which is crucial to their livelihood. Rivers are crucial to our lives too. All water resources are interconnected. If you sneeze in the interior somebody catches a cold in Georgetown. Our Amerindian brothers and sisters aren't hewers of wood and fetchers of water. And they don't want handouts. Some of the balata craftsmen are exporting craft to the US and taking orders on the internet. CIG is appraising this cottage industry with a view to assisting in its further development and encouraging other enterprises to learn from their experience and methods. The Amerindian communities want to see a studied plan of action in the protected areas that takes account of their traditional interests, and that means full consultation at all levels and includes building a capacity for management. We place a lot of emphasis on developing partnerships with them in order to understand and help identify their needs. For example, the provision of photo-voltaic (solar-powered) 'clean' lighting sources for making craftwork possible after dark. For training programmes on home economics, guiding, catering, etc.

MG: So protecting certain areas really means linking conservation with sustainable human development.

JS: Exactly. Conservation and development are interdependent.

MG: What other areas does CIG want to protect?

JS: The government and CI as the lead agency have recently signed an MOU - a memorandum of understanding - for a Protected Area to be established in southern Guyana. This is a formalising of our commitment to

establish a Protected Area in that region. The EPA and CIG will be playing an important role in that process. But the key component in the process will be the involvement of stakeholder communities, including the Wai Wai. We are the lead agency for the process leading up to the establishment of the Kanuku mountain region as a protected area.

MG: Why the Kanuku mountains, and what's the process used in developing a consensus for a proposed Protected Area?

JS: We have been involved in the Kanuku mountain region for nearly a decade. Studies by local scientists, Drs Haniff and Ramdass, as well as research conducted under the auspices of CI and the European Union, at the request of the government, have supported the recommendation that this region be protected. It is, as the Wapisianas and the Makushis have long known, one of the richest areas of Guyana in terms of its biodiversity. The lowland forests alone sustain 60% of all the known bird species in Guyana. One hundred and fifty kinds of mammals, or 80% of all the mammals found in Guyana can be found in the Kanukus. These include the Giant river otter, the harpy eagle and the Arapaima, the largest fresh-water fish in the world. We need to protect the biodiversity of the Kanuku mountain region. As to the process of arriving at a consensus for a proposed Protected Area, the first stage is site visits, to determine the details of natural habitat, environmental status, use of resources and configuration of the landscape. The second is resource evaluation which leads (or not) to a recommendation of the area for protection. The next stage is meetings and consultations with the communities living in the area to start a dialogue on the issues raised about the need to protect the region. Indigenous focus groups and community co-ordinators are set up in a facilitating role to ascertain and convey the views of the inhabitants. The whole process is documented. Out of this transparent, participatory consultation process a proposal is then developed.

MG: What about the Iwokrama research project? Isn't that the largest protected area of the interior? A million acres was 'given to the Commonwealth' by the Guyana government. Does CIG have any input there? Presumably that land is still Guyana's.

JS: Of course. It's only on lease to the Commonwealth. National interest is not compromised. The Iwokrama project's research and experience concerning the sustainability of controlled mining, timber extraction, ecotourism etc, will be lessons learnt which can be shared world-wide. Iwokrama is a living laboratory for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the natural environment. CIG has contributed to the mounting of a ranger training course there. We expect to gain four trained rangers from that programme.

There is so much to learn about the beauty and the richness of our environment and both the opportunities and threats that present themselves.

By now I was beginning to feel the weight of my own ignorance. But Joe was just warming up. Did I know that in less than a year convoys of Brazilian buses and container lorries will be carrying hundreds of people and hundreds of cargo containers along the upgraded road that connects us with Brazil? That transport licences are already being issued in Guyana? That they'll drive right through the heart of Region Nine - the heart of the heartland - with the unpredictable impact that inevitably accompanies such large human and non-human cargoes? That little is being done to prepare our urban or indigenous population, far less the environment itself, for this onslaught ? Like most coastlanders, I didn't. Did I know that Stabroek News recently carried an article saying that the legally protected area of Kaieteur National Park is already being considered for privatisation? That there has been talk of hotel accommodation, a supermarket and an airstrip to receive large planeloads of tourists? That the roar of the nation's famous waterfall - our national symbol - may be drowned by the roar of jet engines? Alas, I missed that article. I thought: does this mean that our hinterland is in danger of being exploited and commercialised with official backing? We were now in the realm of politics, so I chose my language carefully.

MG: Joe, what's CIG's position in all of this? Are you advising the government and monitoring these developments on their and the people's behalf? Why aren't these things more widely known? What about our indigenous communities? They live, so to speak, right in the path of these developments. They must have their own views about the kind of future they want. Is consultation with the government progressing on these fronts?

JS: I can tell you that I know of initiatives at the national, regional and community levels, involving all stakeholders, aimed at anticipating intelligently the threats as well as the opportunities that may come out of such developments. CI is playing a role in this regard.