Illegal miners likely contributed to higher deforestation

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud

The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) believes that in the matter of the approximately US$20 million which the country will probably not be able to collect under its forest protection agreement with Norway on account of increased levels of deforestation, the mining sector may have a virtually clear conscience.

The association’s Administrator Colin Sparman told Stabroek Business in a telephone interview on Wednesday that while gold-mining operations in interior regions have become a major factor in the clearance of trees, the mining sector, or at least much of it, is guided in its forest clearance pursuits by the letter