– as Guyana stands to lose US$20M of forest funds
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) continue to work on developing a proposal to mainstream biodiversity conservation into the mining sector.
This comes at a time when mining is listed as the leading driver of deforestation in Guyana, accounting for 94 percent of all the deforested area for 2012. The current legislative measures and practices are being examined, with the primary objective to incorporate biodiversity concerns, ahead of the commencement of a second phase, which will see the materialisation of pilot activities to reforest degraded areas.
“Guyana has, over the past years, developed a robust mechanism that governs forest utilisation at the level of forest concessions. Among some of the mechanisms are… the National Log Tracking System, the Codes for Practice for Timber Harvesting and Processing, and the Guidelines for Annual and Management Planning,” the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said in a press release.
It was further noted that these codes of practice and systems have been developed with strong legislative guidance, including the National Forest Plan and Policy 2011 and the Forest Act 2009. Additionally, a new programme for independent assessment on legality and sustainable forest management, which included independent forest monitoring, has concluded that local systems are effective in ensuring sustainable forest management (SFM).
Additionally, the Guyana Forestry Commission is taking active steps to engage and build capacity at the stakeholder level to effectively execute SFM.
Accelerated deforestation
“This was advanced in a number of programmes, including the establishment and operating of the Forestry Training Centre, which provides training to large and small operators in the forest sector. This model is being replicated for the mining sector to build the capacity of stakeholders,” the ministry pointed out.
Mining activities continue to destroy the country’s pristine forests. Guyana stands to lose US$20 million under the Norway-Guyana conservation agreement owing to a 0.025 percent increase in deforestation. This is according to the third National Deforestation Report, which was completed in October under the Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) System for REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus).
The Norwegian government agreed to pay Guyana up to US$250 million over the five-year period spanning 2010 to 2015, if it maintains a deforestation rate below 0.070 percent. The report indicates that Guyana lost an estimated 14,655 hectares of forest between January 2012 and December 2012, with a total deforestation rate of 0.079 percent, surpassing the threshold.
In other words, annual deforestation due to mining has increased to 13,516 hectares from 9891 hectares, a “meagre” 3600 hectares as against 18.5 million hectares, the Natural Resources Ministry said. “This is approximately 93 per cent of all recorded deforestation in 2012. It should be noted that the driver of mining accounted for 1434 hectares of infrastructure development in the hinterland, which is part of the total 13,516 hectares.”
The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said ongoing programmes and interventions are being implemented to improve the REDD+ model. The implementation of the ministry’s Draft Strategic Framework 2013-2018 and the mandates of the committees that are implementing the recommendations of the Sustainable Land Use Committee (SLUC) are among programmes also on the table to tackle the issue of deforestation.
At the national level, the government spearheaded the passage of the Protected Areas Act 2011, and the subsequent creation of the Shell Beach and Kanuku Mountains Protected Areas. With this important step, government, for the first time in Guyana’s history, created a national system of protected areas, which, together with the Community Conservation Area in Konashen, accounts for almost nine per cent of Guyana.
“This is a major step in ensuring that important areas of forest and biodiversity are maintained for both current and future generations,” the ministry posited.
