Dear Editor,
The Sunday Stabroek of June 13 has a thoroughly misleading caption on its page 14 article, namely: ‘Canopy spreading climate services $$ on Iwokrama.’
It was also noted in the same article that on Thursday, June 10, a Member of Parliament had questioned “whether an agreement has been made/signed with a private company and Iwokrama with respect to the sale of eco-system services in that area.”
Based on queries and in the spirit of transparency, the government wishes to reiterate publicly that the declared policy is that all environmental services provided by our renewable natural resources, inclusive of forests, are and continue to remain the property and patrimony of the people of Guyana. This includes all environmental services provided by the Iwokrama forest and indeed, all other state forest areas that have been issued as leases to concessionaires for sustainable forestry utilization, research or any other government approved activity. As such, there can be no sale of these services unless there is prior consultation and agreement with the residents of Guyana.
I wish to also advise that the Government of Guyana‘s representatives on the Iwokrama International Board of Trustees (IBOT) have consistently voiced this policy position at Iwokrama Board and other related meetings such as the those of the Iwokrama Science Committee.
For the sake of additional clarity, the public should be advised that Canopy Capital has a licence agreement with Iwokrama to quantify and value the multiplicity of environmental services provided by the Iwokrama forest. Payment to Iwokrama is simply for this licensing agreement to undertake these studies. Further, there is no agreement for the sale of these services since only the Government of Guyana is authorized to enter into such negotiations.
These clarifications are also intended to correct misleading information being peddled by the REDD-Monitor (December 3, 2008) and distributed to several Parliamentarians.
This article incorrectly states when the Iwokrama scheme was set up. REDD-Monitor also states that “Canopy Capital contracted with the Government of Guyana to buy the eco-system services of the area for an as yet undisclosed sum.” This is a perfect example of the type of irresponsible reporting that REDD-Monitor is famous for since the Government of Guyana has not entered into any such agreement with Canopy Capital or any other firm.
In closing, the Government of Guyana assures the general public that there will be full public consultation and disclosure prior to the government agreeing to the sale of any environmental services inclusive of forest carbon.
This is all part of our continued commitment to transparency and good governance.
Yours faithfully,
Robert M Persaud, MP
Minister of Agriculture
