The European Union has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of the Netherlands to implement a sustainable management of the Guiana Shield Eco-region and Guyana’s Iwokrama forest is included.
The launching of the project took place at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel yesterday and saw the presence of Prime Minister Sam Hinds together with top Government officials and members of the Diplomatic Corps.
The project, phase two, is funded in the amount of 2.243M Euros and the sponsors are the European Union, the Dutch Government, the UNDP and the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands. In Guyana, the Iwokrama forest has been selected for the pilot study. Other countries in the project are Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana.
The project, which the UNDP is executing in 42 months, aims to promote the sustainable development of the Guiana Shield by means of an integrated eco-region management framework and to enable the six countries and their associated local communities to benefit from their natural resources. Project activities focus on pilot projects for testing of mechanisms for compensation for the provision of environmental services, as well as culturally appropriate management contracts, benefit sharing and monitoring schemes.
It hopes to establish a regional balance of payment system for environmental goods and services, build on regional capacity to deliver and maintain environmental goods and services, provide a tool for poverty alleviation by protecting the ecosystems of the region and contribute to the creation of a collaborative eco-regional management framework.
The project also seeks to increase public awareness on the importance of maintaining ecological and cultural integrity of the Guiana Shield eco-region.
Preserving eco-system functions (climate, water, and biodiversity) will benefit stakeholders at the local, national and global levels, it says. “By preserving nature and therefore natural living resources, a significant contribution will be made towards poverty alleviation and resource management by the local inhabitants,” a brief on the project said.
The project is meant to help members of the local communities, national governments through revenues generated from sustainable development activities and will also benefit the Guiana Shield eco-region with a focus on trans-boundary issues and building of regional alliances.
The Guiana Shield Initiative (GSI) has its origins in 1989, with the establishment of the European Working Group on Amazonia. The GSI was launched in 1993 by the European Parliament and the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands was named as partner to maintain the ecological and associated cultural integrity of the Guiana Shield eco-region by means of compensation for ecosystem services.
Presidential Advisor on the Environment Navin Chandarpal said that it is important for the country to be embarking on the project. He said that the Government of Guyana is looking toward the Conference of Parties meeting of the Kyoto Protocol in Bali, Indonesia in December where he said compensation for standing forests will be lobbied for. He said too that in addition to the Iwokrama forest, other areas in the country should be considered as pilot sites.
Just price
Chairman of the GSI Project phase two planning committee retired Major General Joe Singh said that it was important for Govern-ments to be onboard with the project. He said that it was crucial for the project to be integrated with national policy in the project countries. He hopes to see the involvement of the regulatory bodies like the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). The University of Guyana will be involved in the necessary research for the success of the project.
Speaking at the launching UNDP Resident Representa-tive Aboubacry Tall emphasised that since human activity is seen as the main cause of climate change, conservation plays a part in helping to reverse the effects of global warming. But he said that a global effort is needed if countries are to achieve adaptation and mitigation targets.
Director General of Iwokrama Dr David Singh at the launching said that although ecosystem services are becoming of greater value, “we are still far away from receiving a just price for these services.”
He said that countries like Guyana are net providers of both ecosystem goods and services.
But he pointed out that reimbursement is based on the value associated with the goods and very little on the services provided. “When we market a forest product from a certified sustainably managed forest, under principles of fair trade, we are not only providing a product of intrinsic value, but we are also contributing to a guarantee of a future for generations of the world to come,” Dr Singh said.
He explained that within the context of the emerging global marketplace for ecosystem services, now is the time to influence the trade in such services and to make it more attractive for the resource owner.
Dr Singh and Tall signed a UNDP-Iwokrama Cooperation Agreement for the project yesterday.
