Chairman of the National Toshaos Council, Yvonne Pearson, has said that Amerindians are supportive of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) since they have recognised the benefits to be derived from it .
She said that there is Free Prior and Informed Consent evident in the discussions and consultations about the new development pathway that the country has officially embarked upon.
Speaking at the launch of the implementation phase of the LCDS at the Umana Yana on Monday, Pearson said that the strategy is widely talked about among the Amerindian people.
“There can be no solution to climate change without the inclusion of forests…when you talk about the forest, you cannot leave out the Amerindian people,” she said, adding that the Amerindian people have been fully involved and have been part of the discussion.
Pearson, one of the people on the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee for the implementation of the LCDS, said that people of Amerindian descent are not being pressured to opt in to the LCDS. She insists that there is free prior and informed consent and that Amerindian people will among themselves discuss the positives and negatives before making their decision on freely opting in or opting out of the strategy.
“This is a chance for us to keep our forests and have development. We are part of the greatest vision…but we would like to see action,” Pearson said. She added that the Amerindian peoples are committed to the continued support of the strategy.
In the foreword to the latest draft of the LCDS document, President Bharrat Jagdeo said that Amerindians continue to play a particularly vital role in conservation. “They have protected our forests for generations, a sizeable component of forest land is under their jurisdiction, and their insights are valuable not only for their own communities, but for the rest of Guyana and the wider world,” President Jagdeo said.
He said too that elected representatives from all political parties remain critical to long-term success. “Despite our other differences, successive Guyanese governments of different parties have long provided strong leadership to the world on the need to protect our forests. Members of Parliament and all other sectors of our society continue to make extremely valuable contributions,” the President said.
He said that the consultations made it clear that the people of Guyana “want to reconcile our national development with global needs for forests such as ours to be protected.”
Speaking at the event on Monday, member of the Guyana Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP), Mimi Fernandes, said that her organization believes that the LCDS is good in principle because of the benefits that can be derived. Messages of support for the LCDS also came from the National Amerindian Development Foundation and The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG). Notably absent from among the Amerindian organizations was the Amerindian People’s Association (APA).
In his comments, Dr. David Singh, of Conservation International, said that since the launch of the LCDS, the body has been supportive of the Government’s efforts. He said that the strategy will realize the transformation of the economy. He said that he hopes conservation of biodiversity finds a place in Guyana since this country contributes so much of it to the world.
Dr. Singh made it clear that conservation does not mean a locking away of the forest, but protecting it since it underpins the basis for human well-being. Dr. Singh spoke of the need for capacity building at all levels, including children in school. He pledged that CI Guyana will support the implementation of the LCDS.
Dr Patrick Williams, of WWF Guianas, also pledged his agency’s support of the Government’s thrust for the development of the country’s economy while combating climate change. “We see the LCDS as a critical development strategy for Guyana,” he said. “We see the LCDS as supportive of our own conservation efforts.
Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Ramesh Dookhoo, said that the LCDS is important in ameliorating the high cost of electricity, which is dependent on oil. He said too that the strategy will bring improvements to what he referred to as a substandard telecommunications sector.
Between 2010 and 2015, Government aims to complete the process of land titling and the related demarcation and extension processes for all villages that request this to be done. “All titled Amerindian villages will have the option to opt in to the interim REDD+ mechanism at any time during the period 2010 – 2015, in accordance with the principle of free, prior and informed consent,” the OCC said. It said too that the Amerindian Development Fund will be established to provide grants for low carbon energy and economic and social investments in Amerindian villages.
During 2010, discussions will continue on how to develop the opt-in process. The OCC said that the first draft of a paper outlining how the opt-in procedure might work was presented to the LCDS Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee in March 2010. The Committee’s members are in the process of reviewing this paper; and once this review is completed, the paper will be circulated for public discussion and finalisation among Amerindian communities. “The process of opting in may start in villages which choose to do this. The Government will act on behalf of indigenous communities and place indigenous lands within the Interim REDD + framework if individual communities with titled lands decide that they wish to participate,” said the OCC.
It said that once villages start to opt in, those that choose to do so will have access to their share of Interim REDD + revenue through a benefit sharing mechanism which the Government and the National Toshaos Council, in consultation with indigenous leaders and villagers, will work out. The OCC said that even if no village chooses to opt in, at least $4 million per year will be made available for local development from revenues that are received for the State Forest Estate in 2010 and 2011.