The threats to Guyana’s forests were among the topics for discussion this week in Cuba, at the sixth United Nations Conference against Desertification and Drought.

Guyana’s Foreign Min-ister, Dr Rudy Insanally represented Guyana at the conference. A release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) earlier this week quoted President of the Cuban Assembly of People’s Power, Ricardo Alarcon as saying that while attention must be paid to the exploitation of forests for pharmaceuticals, in several countries such as Suriname, Guyana and Ecuador, a potential disaster was lurking within these forested regions due to the expansionist activities of foreign mining and oil companies.

“These are problems that must be taken into account, so that the battle against desertification takes on a truly global dimension,” Alarcon reportedly asserted during his address at the opening ceremony.

The conference concluded on Tuesday, and it was also noted that while the raw biological resources could be found in Third World countries, the technology and economic powers to exploit these resources were controlled by the developed world.

“The Conference noted the need for more efficient plans for conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is estimated that over 20,000 acres of fertile land is lost annually as a result of desertification. As lands are stripped and water resources become scarce the animal kingdom is being depleted. Today there are more than 11,000 endangered species and another 5,000 are potentially endangered,” GINA stated.

The release said Guyana’s biodiversity was recognised as possibly one of the richest, and though the true extent of Guyana’s biodiversity was still unknown, four factors contributed to Guyana’s rich biodiversity. These are its location at the edge of the biologically-outstanding Amazon Basin; its overlying position on the geologically-old Guiana Shield; its position on the Atlantic seaboard of South America, and therefore its marine/coastal environment; and its history of low incidence and intensity of conversion of natural habitats.