WHILE headline-grabbing events related to mining dominated in the local news media and made it to overseas media outlets last week, two important developments did not get top billing. But that’s the nature of the news business – bad news makes headlines and good news does not.
So while a protest in Bartica by miners against moves to get them to comply with environmental regulations grabs headlines, two very commendable projects designed to help in the fight against climate change impacts are relegated to lower down the scale news stories.
We refer to the project reported in this newspaper yesterday which is aimed at demonstrating to gold and diamond miners how to meet their obligations to rehabilitate mined-out areas, and another over the weekend on replanting mangroves to help protect the coastal shoreline from rising sea levels.
The replanting trees scheme in a mined-out area in Mahdia in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) is said to be going well and those behind it are enthusiastic about the prospects it holds as a model to be replicated in the sector.
Hundreds of acacia trees are growing there vigorously in the project being undertaken by the Guyana Environmental Management and Capacity Development in collaboration with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) under a programme funded by the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
It’s the kind of project that the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, for one, should be closely monitoring with a view to embracing and adopting it for use in areas that they mine.
Project Manager Mortimer Livan said the site comprised a former tailings pond and a tailings dump for a mined-out piece of land at St. Elizabeth, Mahdia, and trees supplied by a GGMC-operated nursery at Mahdia were planted late last year.
The planters were residents of Mahdia, contracted for the purpose, and supervision, management and monitoring is being done by interns, students of the University of Guyana, and miners who have operations near the site.
Mr. Livan said a similar tree planting and re-vegetation project is planned in Region One (Barima/Waini) with similar objectives.
The workshop organised last week to highlight the effects and importance of mangrove restoration as a buffer to pounding from the Atlantic was also in similar vein.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) said the objective of the forum was to abate climate change – carbon sequestration through reforestation and forest preservation and to mitigate its effects.
The project will include rehabilitation, protection and sustainable use of mangroves, their monitoring and the enforcement of forest legislation.
According to Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, “The issue of mangrove is of paramount importance to the government and we hope through the implementation of this project…sensitisation (and) public awareness…to develop a very proactive approach in this regard.”
He said $125M will be allocated to the project between the Government of Guyana and the European Union (EU) during this year, adding that it is not about planting mangroves alone but rather formulation of a code of practice for mangrove management, public awareness, research, education and policy and legislation review.
Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn, who was also at the workshop, appealed to society to help protect structures of planted mangroves since huge allocations have been injected into the project.
Minister Benn noted that moving from the coast is not an option and as such the protection of Guyana’s coastline should be maintained.
GINA said it is estimated that there are about 80,000 hectares of mangrove in Guyana, sequestering about 120,000 tonnes of carbon annually and protecting 112 million tonnes of carbon from being released into the atmosphere.
These are just two examples of the kind of stories that have huge national impact but seldom get the top billing media treatment they deserve.
The private media, with their own agendas, are not likely to see them in the light they deserve and it’s up to the state media to ensure these kinds of developments get more into the limelight.