THE Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) yesterday, in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), began a two-day workshop on Guyana’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) + programme aimed at proliferating similar initiatives in Belize, Dominica and Suriname.

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, at Podium, addresses the gathering yesterday. (Carl Croker photo)

Among the participants were representatives of these CARICOM States who are to work out the modalities for such a scheme in their respective countries.

The objectives of the forum include to review possible financing mechanisms for compensating countries with high forests and low deforestation rates for their efforts to preserve forest cover; to examine options and recommend an applicable methodology and advise on action to further develop the selected one and pursue its implementation.

Speaking at the opening, convened in the GFC Headquarters, Water Street, Kingston, Georgetown, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said the workshop is timely and will enable those participating in and out of Guyana to benefit from ongoing local activities to address challenges posed by climate change.

He said it also gives Guyana the opportunity to showcase its pioneering and visionary work, in this area, which has been done in a manner that encourages regional and global replication.

Mr. Persaud pointed out that Guyana has been very pro-active in combating climate change and promoting REDD and, as a nation which has about five per cent land area covered with forest, it has not gone the route of some countries which have overutilised their natural resources far beyond sustainability, to promote socio-economic development.

He said successive governments have always taken a balanced approach in the use of forestry resources, complying with guidelines laid down by reputable world organisations such as the FAO and the International Tropical and Timber Organisation (ITTO).

In addition, Persaud said this Government has put in place supporting policy and legislative framework to ensure transparency in land allocation, secure tenure rights to State leases and robust checks and balances, inclusive of a national log tracking system.

And, despite continuous logging for centuries, Guyana has a deforestation rate of less than 0.3 per cent, mainly because of deliberate policies to safeguard the eco-system, he noted.

However, Persaud observed that, with the opening of the Berbice and Takutu river bridges and the hinterland for gold and diamond mining, many local and overseas investors have expressed interest in establishing large plantation type agricultural operations.

THREATS
He said those opportunities pose significant threats to the country’s 15 million hectares of pristine natural forest and, for that reason, Guyana, like many similar minded countries, has taken a position that REDD cannot focus only on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and it cannot be based on its low historical emission rates.

Rather, Persaud, whose portfolio includes responsibility for forestry, said Guyana must consider, as well, avoided deforestation, enhancement of carbon stocks and sustainable forest management.

He said attention must be given to national circumstances, especially in countries with high forests and low deforestation rates which have to look at future projected emissions that can be considered potential foregone opportunities.

Persaud said Guyana underlined those principles when it was one of the first countries to submit a readiness preparation plan to the World Bank and one of the first three to have their documentation approved.

He disclosed that Guyana was also the first country to develop a monitoring, reporting and verification system that can be adapted to other countries’ specific needs and which will take into account future projected emissions.

However, he contended that the recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Norway, which guarantees significant financial flows to Guyana once it meets agreed obligations, was the “feather in the cap”.

“These are laudable achievements but Guyana has gone a step further in creating the vital linkage of REDD + with a comprehensive national development framework.

“While the world is focused on REDD and REDD +, we have recognised that these initiatives are too complex to be addressed by the forestry sector alone.

“As such, we have made REDD + a component of President (Bharrat) Jagdeo’s visionary Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS),” Persaud told the gathering of national and foreign forestry sector officials.

The comprehensive LCDS looks at garnering financial incentives through REDD + that will be used for activities linked to adaptation and mitigation, the development of high potential low carbon investment sectors and social empowerment and national development.