THE Guyana Government remains committed to supporting the protection of the Amazon and believes that the recipe to address the challenges facing it is through a partnership, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett affirmed yesterday. She was speaking at the opening of a regional two-day workshop, themed ‘Conservation experiences of local and indigenous communities in protected areas of the Amazon region’, at Grand Coastal Inn, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara.
The forum is being facilitated by the Latin American Technical Network for Natural Parks, other protected areas, wild flora and fauna (REDPARQUES), the Government of Guyana and the National Parks Unit of Colombia, with the involvement of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO).
The local coordinating committee comprises World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Guianas, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, with workshop participants drawn from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, as well.
The discourse is intended to facilitate the sharing of conservation experiences of indigenous and local communities in and around protected areas, to advance the conservation of the Amazon.
Rodrigues-Birkett, remarking on progress by indigenous peoples and protected areas in Guyana, said this workshop could not have come at a more appropriate time “as we continue the discussions and debates on climate change and, in particular, the role forests can play in mitigating the effects.”
“It will be sacrilege if we exclude the role of our indigenous peoples, the role they have played and continue to play in protecting and preserving the lungs of the world – the Amazon and all the biodiversity in this area,” she posited.
Continuing, Rodrigues-Birkett said: “Indeed, not only the Amazon, but in other parts of the world, our indigenous peoples have played an important role.”
She noted that, although she is sure that their experiences with protected areas are similar in many ways, there are many differences, too.
Regional conversation
Rodrigues-Birkett said this workshop presents an opportunity for the sharing of experiences and perspectives which can lead to a regional conservation vision.
She said she is aware that, for various reasons, there is increasing pressure on the resources on which indigenous people depend and it is, therefore, even more important now to examine how they are managed and the challenges faced as their communities continue to grow in numbers.
Rodrigues-Birkett disclosed that, in Guyana, the indigenous people are the fastest growing group.
“I do not believe that it has to be one way or the other. I believe that both can be accomplished, management of the protected areas in a way that is sustainable and also provide the needs of our indigenous and wider population.
“But there must be the will and determination of both the indigenous peoples and their governments to do so and, above all, there must be respect,” she maintained.
Rodrigues-Birkett said Guyana, for the last decade and a half, has attached tremendous importance to the development of its indigenous people and worked very hard, on different fronts, to narrow and, hopefully, very soon, close the gap between the indigenous population, which numbers approximately 70,000 and the remainder of the Guyanese population.
“We will not and cannot hide the fact that, for many years, the issues that affected them went unsolved and this created a problem of trust as promises were not fulfilled. In this regard, I know that our history is not dissimilar in some respects to many of your countries,” she said.
“However, today I see a commitment and an increasing commitment by some governments in our region to change course in a positive direction,” Rodrigues-Birkett said, citing workshop as testimony.
Highlighting some of the things done through working together with the indigenous communities, she alluded to the Amerindian Act enacted in 2006, which provides for a gamut of things after close to four years of consultations with indigenous people and others.
Rodrigues-Birkett said included in that law is the procedure or the process for legal recognition of land claims, which is an important step in the right direction.
She pointed out that, importantly, included in the legislation, too, is a section on protected areas that speaks to the recognition of traditional rights and the fact that indigenous people must give consent if protected areas are to be established on their legally recognised land.
The Minister said the Government has managed, in the last six to seven years, to increase the amount of land owned by indigenous communities, from 6.5 per cent or thereabout to approximately 14 per cent at this point in time and will continue this process.
“But it is not possible for us to be discussing protected areas and not discussing, on the other hand, how we move forward with land issues and we have been able to do that, I think, together with the communities and I would like to say it has been very successful. It has not been without problems but you must have those and I think that, working together, we can solve those,” she stated.
Significant aspect
Rodrigues-Birkett said, another significant aspect of the Act is that the communities are given the authority to make rules for the management of those lands and enforce them.
“The Government of Guyana certainly recognises the Amazon forest as the lungs of the world giving life to Earth and its inhabitants and will remain committed to supporting the protection of the Amazon,” she told the gathering.
Rodrigues-Birkett said, apart from its many national initiatives, Guyana is also a member of ACTO and, at the international level, has acceded to several environmental related treaties and conventions.
“I am fully aware that no one country, irrespective of how committed it may be, can address the challenges of the Amazon on its own. We are fully aware of the many challenges that beset this region but we believe that the recipe to address the challenges facing the Amazon is through a partnership involving the people of the Amazon, their governments and the international community.
“And the Government of Guyana is committed to this collective responsibility to ensure lasting benefits in the context of an environmental socio-economic and cultural development for our peoples not only in Guyana but in all of the countries involved,” she assured.
To this end, the Minister said she is, therefore, pleased that United Nations (UN) member States are currently engaged in deliberations, in New York and included on that agenda is the issue of forests.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, performing the duties of the Office of President, in the keynote address, agreed that individual experiences are needed to discern guidelines and rules to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of what they have been doing.
“We are being responsible but we, developing people, want to become developed also. Are there low carbon pathways to the developed status,” he asked.
“Here, in Guyana, we believe that the work we are doing, through our Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and through our partnership with Norway can provide this model,” Mr. Hinds stated.
He said:“While we recognise the potential of Guyana’s effort and the LCDS, the real success will be measured by the involvement and participation and benefits derived by our people.”
Mr. Hinds said the approach adopted in the LCDS has seen one of the most comprehensive and ongoing stakeholder engagements at the national level, involving all stakeholders and, in particular, Amerindian communities.
“We recognise the st
ewardship of our Amerindian people, in regard to protecting and maintaining our forests and Amerindians remain in the forefront of our ongoing stakeholder engagements in seeking involvement and participation,” he said.
Hinds said, in fact the LCDS financing model is, at this time, based only on State forests, with Amerindian communities being given the option to decide, at times of their choosing, whether they want to have their titled lands as part of the strategy.
He announced that, from the funds expected this year under the LCDS and Norway agreement, US$5M of the US$30M has already been earmarked to further support Amerindian people development in regard to their land demarcation process and a small grants facility for communities and community projects focused on improving and securing livelihoods.
National system
EPA Executive Director, Dr. Indrajit Ramdass, in an overview of initiatives in Guyana, said his agency is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of this country’s national system of protected areas.
He said, currently, there are two established protected areas in Guyana which are the Kaieteur National Park (KNP) and the Iwokrama Rainforest Reserve.
Ramdass also said that there is a community-owned conservation area that has been established in southern Guyana, by the Wai-Wai community and work is currently moving ahead to create two additional protected areas in Shell Beach and the Kanuku Mountains.
He said the Government, in recognising the strong relationship between indigenous communities and biodiversity, has committed to a ‘parks with people’ approach to protected areas both for establishment and management.
Ramdass said, through partnerships with international donors, Government and sector agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and, more importantly, local communities, the EPA has been able to complete a number of initiatives critical to the establishment of a national protected area system.
He said, while those initiatives represent considerable strides in the establishment of a national protected area system, Guyana stands to benefit from the experiences of other countries within the Amazon region.
“We are also in a position to share our experiences with a view to improving conservation processes between governmental entities and the local and indigenous communities,” he assured.
Country Manager, Dr. Patrick Williams recalled that, in 1996, WWF Guianas became the first major environmental conservation organisation to formally recognise the rights of indigenous peoples.
“More specifically, we recognised their rights to their traditional lands, territories, and resources and endorsed the key principle of free, prior informed consent,” he underscored.
He said WWF recognises that indigenous peoples are among the Earth’s most important stewards, with a rich history of practice of conserving areas of land and water in their traditional domains.
Williams said that, in the Guianas, progress towards the establishment and management of protected areas has been slow as a myriad of difficult and conflicting issues emerge.
But, despite these difficulties, WWF Guianas has continued to commit financial and technical resources and work with key stakeholders, including governments and indigenous and local communities, to support the establishment of a network of protected areas in the region, he said.
Williams remarked that, over the last two decades, such conservation experiences have developed in new forms, making use of legal and policy changes operated in most countries in the region and a significant number of communities’ conserved areas are now integrated in the formal protected area systems.