Guyana and the European Union (EU) on Thursday agreed on a roadmap for implementing the Guyana-EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which aims to improve forest governance and verify the trade in legal timber.
According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) report that was issued yesterday, the aide-mémoire was signed by Minister of Natural Re-sources, Vickram Bharrat and EU Ambassador to Guyana Fernando Ponz Cantó at the Pegasus hotel after a meeting with the various stakeholders.
“In no way the FLEGT/ VPA or the Low Carbon Development Strategy, that is in the consultative process right now is speaking towards reduction in forest activities, reduction in harvesting or the production of wood products. What it speaks to directly is the sustainability of it, how inclusive the process is and also, and importantly how legal, the operation and the products are,” Bharrat was quoted as saying.
