— says Department of Environment director
BIODIVERSITY protection is vital to human existence and all must play a role in this regard, Department of Environment (DoE) Director, Ndibi Schwiers said on Thursday.
She gave the advice to students at an event hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the Umana Yana to celebrate International Day for Biodiversity (IDB)
“Consider it not that you are too young or old to play an active role in the protection of our biodiversity; we each have a very important role to play in biodiversity protection,” Schwiers said.
Created by the United Nations to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues across the globe, IDB is celebrated annually on May 22 since 2000. Prior to that, it was celebrated on December 29 since 1993.
With Guyana poised to see major development with the coming on stream of the oil and gas industry, over the next few years, greater focus will be placed on preserving Guyana’s biodiversity.
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Our natural and biological ecosystems are considered relatively intact [and] these must not be lost to economic growth but managed with a long-term perspective that embraces the principles of sustainable development,” Schwiers noted.
This year, IDB is being celebrated under the theme “Our biodiversity, our food, our health”.
“The theme places biodiversity at the centre of our physical, mental and social well-being. If we want to lead healthy, happy lives, the inevitable truth is that we must take steps to preserve our biodiversity,” Schwiers said.
Over the years, as a country, Guyana has made strides to protect and preserve its ecosystem, even as many studies have shown the world at large to be undergoing ecological biodiversity recession, caused by human activities.
To guard against this, Guyana is a signatory to a number of multilateral environmental agreements on biodiversity protection. This includes the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), as well as the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 2030, which features biodiversity across many of its 17 goals.
More recent, Guyana launched the ‘Green State Development Strategy: Vision 2040 in 2018’.
IMPLEMENTATION
“Implementation begins in 2020 led by the Department of Environment. But we cannot do it alone, we need you to work with us in helping to conserve biodiversity,” she noted.
EPA Chairman, Dr. Patrick Williams made a presentation on “The Role of the EPA in Biodiversity Management and Conservation”.
Williams highlighted the need for partnerships between differing stakeholders to ensure human development does not come at a cost to biodiversity preservation.
“Managing our environment is a complex task which requires research, acquisition of skills, technology, financial support and inter-agency collaboration. Often action taken yield contrary results. For instance, in an attempt to protect our crops and livestock from pest, agrochemicals are used. However, the chemicals destroy pests and also beneficial species, water supplies become contaminated and air quality is impaired. [Therefore] environmental management requires the establishment of sound infrastructure, and participation with stakeholders at all levels: individuals, households, agencies, and policymakers,” Williams highlighted.
UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Representative, Gillian Smith stressed the need for Guyanese to truly appreciate and preserve the country’s biodiversity.
“I have been in Guyana for six months and one of the things I have been struck with is how incredibly diverse Guyana is. So many plants and animals, different environments, I have never in my life seen so many birds. I am amazed by the amount of birds that are just in Georgetown alone. That biodiversity I want you to think of it as part of your heritage and part of the assets that you are inheriting. It makes Guyana unique and will provide the opportunities for Guyana going forward. So you will have good resources to be able to continue to grow the country,” the Jamaican noted.
