THE local protected areas system received a significant boost last January 16, with the exchange of notes to formally initiate a funding grant, from the German Government to the Guyana Government, through the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. Minister with the portfolio, Mr. Robert Persaud revealed that the ministry benefitted from close to US$15M from a financing agreement with the German Development Bank for the three phases of the Guyana Protected Areas System (GPAS).
The GPAS is currently in its third phase and an additional 4.3 million euros have been given by the German Government to support protected areas management and the conservation of important forested areas.
Meanwhile, the proposed Protected Areas Commission will take into account all the human needs of the related communities to ensure a workable balance between those and their conservation goals.
“We have a people and parks approach to protected areas. So it is not a case where people will be severely restricted from using certain resources and nothing can happen. The National Protected Areas system is to be, first and foremost, a tool for national development and not necessarily wholly and solely for preservation,” Commissioner of the Protected Areas Commission (PAC), Mr. Damian Fernandes explained recently.
He made the disclosures during a recent review of the PAC’s work in 2012 and its plans for 2013.

Full understanding
He said that the PAC will be taking its message to residents of the protected areas to make sure there is a full understanding of its aims and objectives.
The Commission will also be seeking consensus as to how the lands and resources in the targeted areas are to be utilised and managed, Fernandes said.
He added that livelihood activities in the communities will be among the main items on the agenda of the PAC at its meetings and interactions with stakeholders during the course of this year.
Fernandes said the PAC is convinced that such interacting would produce stronger and longer lasting results for both the development of the communities, as well as the effectiveness of conservation efforts.
He stated that 2011 was the watershed year for protected areas management in Guyana, with the passage of the Protected Areas Act, which gave the PAC its mandate to also manage urban parks and green spaces, resulting in the National Parks Commission being subsumed in it.
The PAC Board is headed by Mr. Shyam Nokta and the Deputy Head is Major General (ret’d) Joe Singh.
Fernandes said, this year, the PAC will be focusing, primarily, on an initiative to upgrade and rehabilitate the three main parks in Georgetown and develop a strategic plan for moving forward with the hinterland parks, such as Kaieteur, Shell Beach and the Kanuku Mountains.
The programme will also include the construction of a guest house in the gorge at Tukeit, which is the last stop before the ascent of the plateau leading to Kaieteur Falls.