A bilateral arrangement between the Guyana and Cuban governments will allow staff at the Guyana National Museum to undergo training in taxidermy to maintain the national collection.

A Government Information Agency (GINA) press release said this arrangement, made through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport will enable staff to be trained by Marco Cordero, a specialist from Cuba’s Institute of Ecology, Sciences and Geography.

Cordero, during his first visit to the Museum, donated his collection of sea shells and two books about Cuba’s birds, amphibians and reptiles to Culture Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, who was accompanied by acting Administrator of the Museum Tamika Boatswain.

Cordero will be working in Guyana for the next year; supporting staff of the Museum and assisting in the expansion of the current collection of taxidermy items. The minister said Cordero’s donation will enhance the national collection and “We are very pleased to have him.” He added that “A large part of the Museum’s assets is animals and one of the things we need to do with this collection is to have a taxidermy staff, that is, people with the taxidermy knowledge to maintain [it].”

According to GINA, a taxidermy camp hosted for children in August was part of the ministry’s efforts to promote the taxidermy programme in Guyana. The programme is expected to be a regular feature on the ministry’s vacation roster for children. It also plans to offer youth archaeology training as part of its efforts to promote conservation. Anthony recently said this can be accomplished through collaboration with the Walter Roth Museum. “We need young people to aspire to become archaeologists and become active in museums. These are important arenas where knowledge can be stored. People must also be capable of going out into the field and finding our history,” Anthony said.