Translations will be done in the Patamona, Wai Wai, Wapishana, Akawaio and Macusi languages and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs is at present awaiting submissions of the completed translations from the various communities except the Patamona language which has already been submitted.

According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the initiative is aimed at promoting a better understanding of the LCDS among Guyana’s Amerindian people who are cited as part of the strategy’s main stakeholder group.

It builds on a similar project that was funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) last year to publish dictionaries containing the languages of the various tribes and their accompanying meanings.

In April the dictionaries were presented to the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology on Main Street for distribution to the Amerindian communities. They are “Short Dictionary of the Warao Language,” “Twenty-eight lessons in Loko (Arawak)”, “Arawak English Dictionary,” “Short Grammar and Dictionary of the Akawio and Arekuna Language,” “Short Dictionary of the Warao Language of Guyana,” and Scholars Dictionary and Grammar of the Wapishana language.

The multi stakeholder committee team that was responsible for explaining the LCDS in the simplest way possible during the consultations had recognised from the inception that the language barrier would have been one of the limitations to the full comprehension of the strategy.

During the consultation sessions, GINA said one resident of Kamarang, Region Seven had pointed out that after receiving the LCDS document he was unable to analyze the graphs and statistics and thus could not understand the document further.

The campaign to spread awareness about the LCDS to the Amerindian communities commenced on June 19 at Annai and Aishalton in Region Nine and continued on July 15 at Mabaruma, Port Kaituma and Santa Rosa in Region One, Anna Regina, Region Two, Port Mourant Region Six, Kamarang and Bartica, Region Seven, Mahdia and Kato, Region Eight and Hururu, Muritaro and Linden in Region Ten.

The LCDS is an initiative of President Bharrat Jagdeo which seeks to transform Guyana into a low carbon economy providing that the proposal for compensation for forests and the environmental services which they provide to the world, is included in the Copenhagen agreement.

A study on Guyana’s forests showed that the revenue gained from preservation, far outweigh the economic value to the nation and the traditional subsistence activities of the Amerindians living in the forests have done miniscule harm.