Iconic timber species overharvested, near commercial extinction

Guyana’s greenheart, purpleheart and more recently, wamara and itikiboroballi species are overharvested and are extinct or approaching commercial extinction in accessible forests, according to forestry expert Janette Bulkan, despite denials by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).

“The ratio of their log volumes to total log volumes far exceeds the ratio of the volumes of the standing trees in the forest to total forest volume,” Bulkan wrote in a recent letter to Stabroek News. Bulkan said that it has been evident for years that the GFC’s casual approach to the required conservation