STAKEHOLDERS from the University of Guyana and a number of organisations pondered over the last three days the establishment of an International Centre for Biodiversity and Low Carbon Development at a workshop that sought to develop a conceptual framework and inform the terms of reference. The workshop also will lead to the development of a feasibility study for the Centre as the next phase of the project. The Centre for Biodiversity Research is one of the projects being funded under the Guyana REDD Investment Fund (GRIF), through the financing from the Kingdom of Norway.
A wrap-up working session took place yesterday at the Guyana International Conference Centre and stakeholders shared their views on the work done so far and their vision for the Centre.
The Centre is meant to provide and build capacity information that Guyana would need in the implementation of the LCDS. “Low carbon development is a significant change in the development trajectory of Guyana. This cannot be accomplished through business as usual. Building and using national skills is more cost effective than bringing in outside skills, especially in the long term,” said a briefing note of the emerging discussions.
It said Guyana needs the Centre to sustain and respond to the substantial international attention focused on the country, its resources and ecosystems. “In creating the Centre, we will establish the institutional framework with capacity and authority through strong partnership to continue marketing Guyana’s biodiversity, migratory species, ecosystem services and critical habits,” the briefing note said.
It said too that the LCDS includes a commitment to strengthen the capacities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for undertaking some of these tasks.
Further, the Memorandum of Understanding with the Kingdom of Norway includes a commitment to cooperation on biodiversity protection, with the Joint Concept Note outlining shared expectations, inter alia, to protect the biodiversity, develop indicators for measuring success of implementation and continuing a constructive exchange of views. The MOU also commits to understanding the relationship between infrastructure and resource extraction and forest degradation, mapping priority biodiversity areas in Guyana’s forests, and managing the linkages between forests and biodiversity protection.
The Centre will provide information for decision making that will be polity relevant but not prescriptive, and will conduct research and develop products from that research, said the briefing note. According to the note, the Centre will manage, analyse and disseminate biodiversity related information and provide training in the area of biodiversity research and management.
The Centre will be independently governed, with a strong connection to the University of Guyana. “It will be governed by a board that is comprised of individuals committed to making the Centre work, with vision, skills and capacity to secure resources, and a diversity of perspectives. But the final structure of the Board will be developed through stakeholder consultation, the briefing note said.