A team of sustainable forest investors visited Guyana on a fact-finding mission, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported on July 15.
President Bharrat Jagdeo in discussion with former St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Sir James Mitchell and officials from FTI Timber Growth Fund Limited
The team was brought to Guyana by former St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Sir James Mitchell who renewed his acquaintance with President Bharrat Jagdeo during a courtesy visit.
According to GINA, the team from the FTI Timber Growth Fund Limited, a European-based company operating in the Roraima state of Brazil, included board chairman Marcus Valentine and operations consultant John Edwards, among others.
The company maintains reputable standards of internationally certified sustainable forestry practices and has been a licensed operator in St Vincent and the Grenadines for about 10 years. It operates on a concession of several hundred thousand acres in Roraima, and has submitted an application for a licence in Guyana.
Sir Mitchell explained that he is fully cognisant of Guyana’s forest protection policy and the national scale forest payments scheme which it sealed with Norway that earned the country US$ 70 million.
Sustainable forest management is at the centre of a development path Guyana has taken to build and expand on the economic and social reforms achieved over the past two decades while aiding in the fight against climate change.
The strategy evolved out of President Jagdeo’s Initiative on Avoided Deforestation that was launched in December 2008. The strategy is based on the premise that Guyana can deploy its rainforest strategically to combat climate change, without affecting national development or its sovereignty over the forests, it is imperative that Guyana joins the global efforts to avoid climate catastrophe.
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