Sherwood Forest Incorporated was recently awarded a State Forest Exploratory Permit (SFEP) to carry out works in an area within Region Six and the company is currently studying the impacts its operations may have on the area.
According to the project summary, which was seen by Stabroek News, the primary goal of the company is to acquire a forest concession agreement that grants rights to engage in the sustainable production of value-added timber products for the local and export markets.
The SFEP was granted to Sherwood for a 167,066 hectare parcel of land bordered by the Corentyne, Essequibo and Berbice rivers.
The company, which was incorporated in accordance with the Companies Act in 2004, stated that it will recruit persons from the North Rupununi and train them in various areas and it stated that the inflow of large volumes of cash within the communities could have both negative and positive benefits. In addition, Sherwood stated that the opening up of access roads to the area could lead to an influx of people and the setting up of mining operations or farms, thereby, diversifying land use. New mining and farming activities within the area could lead to the development of businesses such as shops and discos, and create a whole new web of social and economic activities.
Issues related to occupational safety and health are key considerations, since, according to the Project Summary, forest-based activities are associated with a number of hazards from the natural environment and various illnesses or injuries resulting from the use of machines such as chainsaws; the inhalation of smoke and dust, and the use of contaminated water. Dust pollution and vibration can affect workers as can the uncontrolled use of pesticides for spraying logs or lumber or for sanitation purposes.
According to the project summary, in order to carry out timber harvesting operations within the area, Sherwood Forest will engage in a number of activities that create environmental and social impacts and these will be carried out in two phases.
Among the activities slated to be carried out within the first phase are studying the geographic parameters of the area and determining the critical skills sets required to organise the planning and harvesting operations, recruiting a forest manager and technicians who will form a planning team, carrying out forest inventories and similar studies on geology and soils, biodiversity and social issues within the concession area in consultation with stakeholders, as well as purchasing and deploying a large number of logging equipment and vehicular units, covering from chainsaws to heavy bulldozers.
In addition, the company plans to initially establish more than 120 km of all-weather roads to allow access to the concession area, the all-weather roads will incorporate a number of bridges and culverts and the establishment of a number of borrows pits. Construction of the roads will lead to felling of trees along the planned road alignment, the company said.
Phase two of the scope of operations includes the carrying out of 100% pre-harvest inventories and the preparation of stock maps, aligning and construction of access roads, skid trails and log depots, tree marking, directional tree felling and skidding operations as well as log market operations-sorting, grading and stacking of logs by species or dimensions and loading logs onto trucks.
The company said it anticipates physical impacts from operations which include felling trees, bulldozing trees and stumps, scarification of the soil surface as well as the modification of stream courses to accommodate bridges and culvert construction works. As regards ecological impacts, Sherwood Forests notes that timber harvesting leads to the removal of large prime quality trees which create gaps and leads to changes in the under storey (temperature, humidity and light) and changes in species composition.
A team of consultants has been recruited by Sherwood Forest in order to prepare the company to address the negative impacts anticipated, subject to the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to the EPA, the consultants, after finalising terms of reference relating to the project, will submit their findings to the environmental body.
