THE Iwokrama International Centre (IIC), located in Region 8 (Potaro/Siparuni), is conducting a two-phased field bird watching and basic tour guide training to support community conservation and development in the mangrove forests near Hope Beach, at Belfield, and in the Greenfield community in the lower East Coast Demerara area.

Members of those communities are being provided with a skills combination of conservation of the natural systems and revenue-generating opportunities in the form of birding and tour guide training, which is entering its second phase.

Local conservationist, Annette Arjoon-Martins, whose brainchild the programme is, said the programme is being supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce (MinTIC) and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA)Admin 3.

Birding, also known as bird-watching, is considered an eco-tourism niche market with great potential, and the Ministry of Tourism has identified Hope Beach as a prime bird-watching site due to its easy accessibility from Georgetown and its vast population of migratory and other species of birds.

During the first phase of the IIC training, which ended earlier this month, participants learnt the basics of core bird identification techniques, and how to understand bird habitats and their behaviours and ranges.

Classroom learning was enhanced with field exercises on Hope Beach, in the Botanical Gardens, and at other coastal locations, to hone birding techniques and identification.

The second phase of the training, comprises a field exchange visit to Surama Eco Lodge in the North Rupununi, Region 9, (Upper Takutu/ Upper Essequibo), where participants will get a first-hand look at a community owned and managed tourism initiative.
This commences in the second week of November.

At Surama they will be given hands on training in birding by Ron Alicock, whose family runs the Surama Lodge.

From Surama also participants will get to visit Iwokrama River Lodge and the Canopy Walkway, thereby deepening their understanding of bird ecology as well as conservation and local perspectives.

They will also have opportunities to interact with indigenous guides who have been trained by IIC and who have been bird guiding for years and have grown into full-fledged, independent tour guides and operators.

The IIC was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama forest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest in Region 8, “in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general.”

(By Clifford Stanley)