…Barama taking ‘stepwise’ approach
MINISTER of Agriculture Robert Persaud said Guyana is aiming for a national sector-wide forest certification and is already on the right track towards achieving this, given the advent of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and its Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) component. The minister spoke during a press conference held at Barama Company Limited’s Land of Canaan complex on Wednesday last.
Barama is one of the first companies here in Guyana to gain the prestigious Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification after months of rigorous reorganising to meet the stringent economic, social and environmental standards.
However, because of a number of issues in terms of Barama’s operations, the company failed to live-up to the requirements of the certification and it was not renewed.
Neil Chand, Barama’s Head of Corporate Affairs and Forest Planning said, at the press conference, that from the time the FSC certification was withdrawn to now, the company has been taking “a stepwise approach” to regaining certification, not necessarily with the FSC.
“We are reviewing various schemes and we are anxious to be part of the Guyana Legal Assurance System which is currently being drafted by the government,” he said. He said that the system should be a nation-wide system of certified operations in Guyana.
Minister Persaud said that a countrywide system is better than having individual companies or concessions certified. “Given the country’s track record of sustainable forest management, with low rates of deforestation, our compliance with not only national but international social and environmental standards, removes the burden of companies having to go through that process,” he said.
“With the MRV system that we have in place, done within the wider framework of the LCDS, the country as a whole can brand itself – dealing with the issue of illegal logging and poor environmental practices in terms of the timber sector. Buyers would know that any product that originates from Guyana would reach those benchmarks,” the minister said.
“That is where the legal assurance system that we are developing will reinforce that fact. I think it is a bit archaic in Guyana’s context to be thinking of individual forest stewardship certification rather than looking at countrywide certification,” the Minister said.
According to the minister, not having a certification scheme has not hurt Guyana internationally, nor has it caused markets to flourish.
Speaking on the issues that caused Barama to lose certification in the first place, the minister said that steps are being taken to resolve the conflicts between mining and forestry. “Coming out of the land use committee’s work were recommendations, and there is now a group headed by the Commissioners of Forests, Lands, the Head of the Environmental Protection Agency,and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission. This body is chaired by a former Commissioner of Lands and Surveys,” the Minister said.
He said, too, that the protocols that have been developed are being put in place and “as we go forward one would see less and less conflict between these two extractive activities in this regard.”
The minister noted that it is a work in progress and he is “quite sure” that, with the changes anticipated, it will reduce some of the more undesired mining and forestry practices.
“We are getting support from the USAID programme that we have in finalising and developing that programme. But do not think that the absence of that has affected our market. What we are doing is reinforcing what it is that we have,” he said.
“But we cannot mandate anyone; it is all a voluntary arrangement and the more persons that subscribe and become part of it, the better for us. Within the GFC Code of Practice we have the log tracking programme, part of the wider MRV system using satellite…we have traceability…every piece of lumber exported or used in Guyana we can tell you where it came from,” he said.
Persaud also told members of the media that the system would not be rendered ineffective should some companies not opt into it.