Protected Areas landmass to be increased by 3.2%
Two benabs at Konashen
Two benabs at Konashen

THE Protected Areas Commission (PAC) intends to increase Guyana’s landmass under Protected Areas (PA) status from 5.3% to 8.5%, Commissioner Damien Fernandes has disclosed.

Fernandes recently said that the PAC is working to add the biologically rich Community Owned Conservation Area (COCA) at Konashen, deep South Rupununi, Region 9 (Upper Essequibo/Upper Takutu) to the local protected areas landscape within a year.

Kaieteur National Park, the oldest Protected Area in Guyana, was established in 1929.
In October 2011, Shell Beach in Region 1 (Barima/Waini) and the Kanuku Mountains in Region 9 were declared Protected Areas by then President Bharrat Jagdeo.
With the addition of the two new protected areas, Guyana has placed 5.3% of its land mass under protection.

Fernandes noted that Guyana is recognised globally for its wealth of natural resources, particularly its vast rainforest, which provides habitats for an enormous variety of plant and animal species.

These plants and animals, some of which are endangered species, are important to national development and play a key role in providing livelihoods and business for indigenous peoples who harvest and market them.

Considering the exceptional benefits that are associated with biodiversity, the protection of flora and fauna has become increasingly vital.

Thus, Protected Areas allow for the protection and conservation of the natural environment and is vital as the foremost defence against deforestation and species extinction.

Fernandes said bringing Konashen into the Protected Areas System (PAS) is intended to take the amount of areas under protection in Guyana to approximately 8.5% of its landmass.
The WaiWai- titled area comprises about 3% of Guyana and the 300- odd residents there had recently applied for their area to be given Protected Area status.

Fernandes said the PAC and Conservation International (CI) have since been meeting with them, discussing the complexities of bringing the Amerindian Act and the Protected Areas Act together and developing a suitable management plan.

In a report on activities of the PAC in 2014, Fernandes also disclosed that the Commission had established an office at Lethem as the first site-level presence in the Kanuku Mountains Protected Area.
The PAC, he said, intends to focus this year on establishing more of these at-site locations for stronger, direct communications with persons interested in using the PAS legally.
The at-site locations will also help the PAC to better monitor PAs to detect and deter illegal activities such as mechanised mining and commercial forestry.
He said that under the Act, communities are allowed to hunt, gather and do sustainable farming.
The main responsibility of the PAC is to ensure that the resources inside the PAs are used, but not exhausted.
Mount Roraima and Orinduik Falls are two other areas that have been proposed for protection under the Protected Areas Act.

By Clifford Stanley

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.