Government to work closely with Iwokrama towards strengthening its agenda
Head of State David Granger, with Chief Executive Officer of Iwokrama, Mr. Dane Gobin, (at right) Major General (rt’d) Joe Singh (at left) and Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman at the meeting at the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday
Head of State David Granger, with Chief Executive Officer of Iwokrama, Mr. Dane Gobin, (at right) Major General (rt’d) Joe Singh (at left) and Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman at the meeting at the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday

PRESIDENT David Granger has given a commitment to working closely with Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development, with the aim of restructuring the agenda, following a meeting with the Agency’s Head, Mr. Dane Gobin. Mr. Gobin, along with Conservationist, Major General Joe Singh (ret’d), and Minister of Governance, Mr. Raphael Trotman, were a part of the discussions with the President yesterday.
According to Minister Trotman, the discussion was centred on how Government could sustain the centre as it has had some challenges in recent times.
“We are looking to see how we can actually reshape the agenda for its work, how we can make it more a place of excellence, and of education, for not just Guyanese, but for the Region and students coming to Guyana to study, and most importantly how do we preserve this for Guyana.”
Minister Trotman said he is of the belief that Guyanese are not fully aware of Iwokrama and have never fully bought into it and embraced it, “so the new thrust would be making it part of our patrimony that we can be proud of, that we would want to visit it, to support it financially, protect and preserve it, so we are excited about the discussions and hopefully a paper will be presented to Cabinet shortly on the way forward.”
Iwokrama was given as a gift to the Commonwealth by then President Desmond Hoyte, which was endorsed by President Jagan when he came into power.
Dedicated as a place for research “to develop, demonstrate, and make available to Guyana and the international community systems, methods and techniques for the sustainable management and utilisation of the multiple resources of the Tropical Forest and the conservation of biological diversity”, the Iwokrama rainforest is located in the geographical heart of Guyana.
It comprises 371,000 hectares of forest (1.6% of Guyana’s landmass and 2% of Guyana’s forests).
The Iwokrama Centre was established in 1996 to manage the forest area, following the signing the year before of an international agreement between the Guyana Government and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Enshrined in an Act of the Guyana Parliament, the agreement gave the Centre the mandate to “promote the conservation and the sustainable and equitable use of tropical rainforests in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general.”
The Centre has the task to test the proposition that conservation, environmental balance and sustainable economic activity are mutually reinforcing, that it is possible to use a forest without losing it. (GINA)

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