–but Gov’t commits to doing even better
GUYANA has completed its preliminary Third Annual Report on Desertification under the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) System for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+). 

The initial report was presented Friday at the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment by subject minister, Mr. Robert Persaud, who affirmed government’s commitment to “effectively manage the deforestation rate from a mitigation standpoint, whilst continuing to implement programmes that will contribute to the maintenance of a low rate of deforestation in Guyana.”
The report summarises forest change of forest to non-forest excluding degradation between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 (12 months) at an estimated 14 655 hectares (ha). Over the Year 3 reporting period, this equates to a total deforestation rate of 0.079%.  This rate of change is higher than Year 2 period (15 months) which was reported as 0.054%.
Guyana currently records a comparatively low deforestation rate, reported in its Interim Measures MRVS Report, as ranging between 0.02% and 0.079% per annum. In Year 3 the deforestation rate has increased relative to previous years to 0.079%.  However, overall Guyana’s Year 3 deforestation rate is still low, when compared to the rest of South America, which, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s 2010 Forest Resource Assessment, is tracking at an annual deforestation rate of 0.41%/yr.
In Year 2, this trend continued with a similar area deforested over the past 15 months. According to Minister Persaud, mining is “still the main driver of forest change, and in Year 2, accounted for 94% of all recorded deforestation.
“This continues to be the case in Year 3, with the area of deforestation attributed to mining increasing to around 13 516 ha from 9,891 ha. The actual increase is only about 3 600ha against 18.5 million ha of total forest, of which approximately 12.2 million of which the State is managing more and more effectively.”
It should be noted, said the minister, that these mining activities are not as a result of lawlessness, since the majority of mining conducted is done within the ambit of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission’s regulations. Most of the deforestation in the mining sector was driven by infrastructural works such as road construction to access certain areas. These actions were responsible for 2,000 ha of the 3,600 ha utilised.
Stressing that the report still has to be finalised, Minister Persaud said that this process is in the process of being undertaken by independent auditors for Durham University and the Kingdom of Norway, with a completion date of November 30.
Guyana could attract a possible penalty of US$20M, but this has to be balanced with the income generated to the nation’s economy by mining proceeds. This amount is far in excess of whatever penalty may be generated, according the minister.
“It is below what has been set as the maximum with the Kingdom of Norway. It’s just that there are some graduated levels that if you hit that threshold, you see a reduction in what your payment can be,” Minister Persaud said.
It was pointed out that the use of new technology, namely satellite imaging, helped to detect the increased levels of deforestation, the Minister said, with previous imagery resolutions of 30 m being used versus the more precise 5m being employed at present.
However, he would not agree that the absence of such accurate technology at the time of the signing of the agreement could mean that the two parties did not have a clear picture of the state of the country’s forests, since other factors were used to determine previous deforestation rates.
The report indicates that Guyana had not deviated from the globally established trends, said Minister Persaud. “We are not unmindful that we need to give adequate attention to our natural resources management.”
He added that the report will be utilised as a guide, “It will enhance our work and it will be an important policy instrument…Our commitment remains to sustainable mining and this requires participation from key stakeholders”.
Government will continue to implement measures to ensure that development in the sector is done in a sustainable manner. Some of these include engaging interior communities, development of a sectoral plan with the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), the setting up of the Mining School and closer collaboration with stakeholders in the sector such as mining and forestry bodies. Minister Persaud indicated that there will be more monitoring staff, the construction of additional sub-stations and the moving in the future to “real time” monitoring to enable quicker responses from the ministry.
President of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), Patrick Harding reiterated his entity’s motto, “Mining with the environment in mind” and agreed with Minister Persaud that there can be no development in the sector without some amount of disruption.
“In any business, development is expected; development in the mining sector comes with some amount of deforestation,” Harding said, adding that Guyana is well below the international and South American averages when it comes to its rate of deforestation, and this must be placed in context with the income generated from activities responsible for this.
He said mining to the national economy cannot be under-estimated, as revenues from gold far outweigh what is coming in from other sectors.
“The mining industry, including bauxite, will give the government foreign exchange of about US$1 billion,” he said.
Gold production has already exceeded the 344,000 ounces declared for the same period in 2012 with 415,000 ounces already declared, which is an increase of 20%. The GDMA president noted that in 2012, the sector contributed US$716 million to the local economy.

(GINA)