GUYANA Mangrove Restoration Project (GMRP) made its website public yesterday, at a forum involving several city secondary schools, Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and other stakeholders.
It was a further move to advance awareness of the efforts to protect, restore and manage local mangrove forests.
Delivering the feature address, at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) auditorium, Director of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), Dr. Oudho Homenauth, said the establishment of www.mangrovesgy.org is a step in the right direction, especially in an information technology (IT) age.
He said it is in line with the country’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) strategy, which places emphasis on both economic and social development.
Homenauth said the GMRP gives this country a natural alternative, leaving more available resources for other purposes, rather than expending millions on improving and maintaining sea defences.
Referring to the numerous benefits of mangrove forests, he declared: “The Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project is a priority.”
It is managed by the Mangrove Action Committee (MAC) within NAREI, under the purview of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Coordinator, Dr. Simpson Da Silva, said the GMRP has its focus on integration at all levels and the website supports a general awareness and, by extension, the areas of work being pursued by the MAC.
According to him, 2011 will see greater emphasis on institutional development and capacity building, research, monitoring, reviewing and evaluation, major restoration and greater public education.

Team undertaking

Da Silva said it is largely a team undertaking, because that is a sure way to ensure sustainability.
MAC Chairperson, Mrs. Annette Arjoon-Martins, said schoolchildren can contribute, significantly, to the project being sustainable, by becoming ambassadors for it.
In that context, National Science Coordinator at NCERD and member of the MAC, Ms. Petal Jettoo, noted that moves are being made to ensure that mangrove awareness reaches each schoolchild.
She said the majority of those participating in yesterday’s function were Environmental Science students.
“We need to ensure that, at the classroom level, there is an awareness of the benefits and importance of our natural resources,” Jettoo said.
She said the GMRP is a good initiative, which bolsters overall environmental protection endeavours.
NCERD Director, Mr. Mohandatt Goolsarran, underscored the Education Ministry’s support in ensuring that it is sustained.
“The Ministry of Education is fully behind the project…we will continue this work in the interest of sustainability,” he pledged.