A project to plant one thousand trees to restore the rainforest in mined-out areas in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) is up and running.

The location is St Elizabeth , Mahdia.

One hundred trees have been planted to date and nine hundred more are to be planted in time for irrigation from the November- December rains.

The Guyana Environmental Capacity Development Project (GENCAPD) is behind the exercise amidst growing pressure on local miners to mitigate the environmental impact of their activities as well greater appreciation of the role of trees as carbon sinks in relation to global warming and climate change.

Officials of GENCAPD, a mining assistance programme for Guyana from Canada, are hoping that small and medium scale miners will see the replanting as a suitable model for rehabilitation of mined-out sites before they move on to other areas.

Project Manager Mr Mortimer Livan disclosed that replanting is being seen as a desirable aspect of rehabilitation of mined out sites, not only in Guyana, but in other countries, most notably French Guiana.

Livan, a Soil Scientist and Senior Lecturer at University of Guyana (UG), disclosed that the trees being planted at St Elizabeth Mahdia are acacia trees of the paulownia species -flowering trees well known for their rapid growth.

He said: “Acacias will return the greenery to mined-out areas in a very short period and can be utilised as timber within ten years.”

“They also have a root system which is very good for the soil,” he added.

At St Elizabeth, the trees are being planted in a mined-out area of four hectares (approximately ten acres) at about six meters apart.

Livan added that GENCAPD will soon be undertaking another such project at mined-out sites at Isseneru in Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) as another model, with similar aims.