Government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) has enabled the citizens of this country to understand the true importance of our forests. Guyana’s expansive forests cover approximately 85% of the country’s land mass, which contains over 5GtCO2 in above ground biomass.
It is noted that the majority of Guyana’s forests are suitable for timber extraction.  However, the forest plays a significant role in Guyana, not only as a low carbon initiative, but also as a watershed protection against the sea.
In Guyana’s rainforests, tree species are numerous and dominant are those with large spreading crowns, which are considered as the most important type for timber production.
The Government of Guyana has embarked on a national programme that aims to protect and maintain Guyana’s forests in an effort to reduce global carbon emissions and, at the same time, attract resources to foster growth and development along a low carbon emissions path.
Sustainable harvesting of timber is also being encouraged by the Government to ensure that the forest can be regenerated for the long term wellbeing of the forests and ultimately of mankind.
The Guyana Forestry Commission is responsible for advising the subject Minister on issues relating to forest policy, forestry laws and regulations. The Commission is also responsible for the administration and management of all State forested lands.
The work of the Commission is guided by a Draft National Forest Plan that has been developed to address the forest policy. The Commission develops and monitors standards for forest sector operations, develops and implements forest protection and conservation strategies, oversees forest research and provides support and guidance to forest education and training.
The production log report for 2009 revealed that production fell below the level of 2008.  For 2010, however, the production and export of both timber and plywood are projected to increase by approximately 5% over the 2009 total, to approximately 373,000m3 and 110,000m3 respectively.
There is a comprehensive list of future plans for the Forestry Sector for 2010/2011.