GUYANA became a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 and ratified it in 1994. By signing onto the Convention on Biological Diversity, Guyana has signalled to the international community that it is committed to implementing the agreed upon measures to conserve and sustainably utilise the country’s biological resources.

Guyana’s high degree of biodiversity acts as a source of livelihood for a large proportion of the country’s population and contributes to the national economy. The basis of our productive sectors of agriculture, fisheries, forestry and wildlife is biodiversity, in which the maintenance of diversity offers considerable opportunities and advantages. Our forests for example, are valuable reservoirs of biodiversity. They contain many animal and plant endemics, provide habitats for wildlife and are an integral part of the country’s freshwater ecosystems. We therefore recognise biodiversity as an important national asset that offers the country many economic options.
Today, as we join with the rest of the Global Community to celebrate International Day for Biodiversity under the theme Water and Biodiversity, we recognise that water and biodiversity are not mutually exclusive but are interdependent and integral parts of the environment. Water is therefore recognised as an important ecosystem service for biodiversity. Guyana’s vast water resources face threats from unregulated mining, logging, and wildlife extraction activities due to the increasing access to these areas from improved hinterland road network. We are therefore constantly working with our local and international partners to monitor these areas thereby ensuring the protection of this irreplaceable natural resource.
At the national level, the government has taken important steps to reduce the factors that lead to biodiversity loss and increase its conservation and the sustainable use of its components. Guyana’s position on the protection and conservation of biodiversity are elucidated in various pieces of legislations and national policies. These include the National Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable use of Guyana’s Biodiversity (1997); National Forest Policy (1997); National Forest Plan (1998); National Biodiversity Action Plan (1999); National Biodiversity Action Plan 11 (2007-2011); Code of Practice for the Utilisation of Mangroves (2005); Species Protection Regulations (1999); Wildlife Import and Export Regulations (2009); The Protected Areas Act (2011); The Fisheries Act (2002); and The Fisheries Management Plan (2006). Additionally, Guyana boasts areas of recognised global importance to biodiversity such as the Iwokrama International Forest Reserve and Kaieteur National Park.
Whilst the Government of Guyana recognises the interplay between water and biodiversity, we are cognizant of the realities of global threat to our biodiversity, including coastal and marine resources in the form of climate change and climate variability. This will require the implementation of an integrated management approach to water and biodiversity resources in order to achieve sustainable development in Guyana.
The onus is on all of us to find tangible solutions to our water issues let us not take for granted Guyana’s abundant supply of freshwater. Compromising our water resources through negative environmental actions will inevitably compromise our quality of life and that our children. It is therefore pivotal to underscore that, water is the pillar for all ecosystem services. This International Day for Biodiversity, I wish to advocate to all Guyanese ‘to take a stand for life, take a stand for biodiversity’.