THE Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), in collaboration with the Guyana Amazon Tropical Birds Society (GATBS), put out its first publication, on Monday. The booklet ‘Checklist of Birds of Essequibo’ was made public at the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, in South Road, Georgetown.
Speaking on the occasion, GTA Director, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh said Essequibo is a major birding hot spot in Guyana and the documentation will show that, of the 900-odd birds in Guyana, about 600 are in Essequibo.
He said the checklist would help to promote Essequibo as part of the tourism development plan and  put more focus on the county as an important birding area.
Haralsingh described the checklist as lightweight and very easy to move around with, in comparison to the previous publications.
Noting that Essequibo is very accessible, scenic and rich in history, he said the checklist notes the birds by their location.

AMAZING TOOL
Haralsingh stated: “This is a very important checklist. This is actually what bird watchers need and so it’s an amazing tool for bird watching.”  
Locations mentioned include Baganara Island Resort, Fort Island and Lake Mainstay Resort.
According to Haralsingh, the publishing helps to create more international awareness for the places as bird watching locations and he urged the various operators and resort owners to continue to aggressively promote bird watching, as it is an important niche market for Guyana and a growing one internationally.
He maintained that Guyana has huge potential in the bird watching market and, currently, there are between 24 and 30 tours per year bringing in an average of between $100M and $168M to the country.
“Bird watching brings a lot of benefits to our community in terms of tour guides. Local guides are being hired and a lot of other countries are relying on our local guides and have also provided training for many of our guides,” he disclosed.
Haralsingh revealed that millions of dollars are spent every year to promote bird watching and it is not considered as an expense but rather as a huge investment.

EXCELLENT JOB
He said 5,000 copies of the checklist were printed, at a cost of $240 each and he commended the GATBS for the excellent job they are doing, noting that they are the ones who conduct ongoing conservation and monitoring surveys which are executed throughout the country.
Vice-President of GATBS, Mr. Andy Narine posited that Essequibo is a unique birding destination which has approximately 597 species of birds, the islands having about 200 and the mainland 400.
He said it took approximately eight years to compile the data and it was submitted to the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce last month, to be published.