KINDLY permit me to refer to Guyana’s European Union (EU) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) process.Guyana is currently engaged with the EU by way of consultations and negotiations so as to arrive at a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) based on FLEGT and known as Guyana’s EU FLEGT VPA by September, 2015.
The EU FLEGT basically is an initiative which seeks to stop illegal lumber from entering the European Union, thereby promoting sustainable forest management in exporting countries such as Guyana. So with a signed voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the EU by September, 2015, Guyana will have open access to the European markets for legally produced timber. It must be noted that the European market is growing, and moreso for timber that is legally harvested and where this legality can be established.
The EU FLEGT is a requirement for Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), according to the joint concept note (JCN) between Guyana and Norway; and so far, since 2009, there are ongoing consultations with relevant Stakeholders of Guyana’s Forest Sector, including Guyana’s Indigenous peoples, consistent with Guyana’s EU FLEGT roadmap. The EU FLEGT can play an important role in Guyana’s LCDS, since it is about stopping forest destruction and promoting sustainable forest management in the fight against global climate change.
But what is currently disgraceful and counter-productive to Guyana’s EU FLEGT process is the granting of 150 thousand Euros to the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) by Guyana’s EU office to purposely sabotage Guyana’s EU FLEGT process under the pretext of “Indigenous Rights.” In this regard, the APA claims that it will be holding “EU FLEGT Workshops” in Amerindian communities to ‘educate’ Amerindians on the EU FLEGT process. But since the APA is known to be hostile to Guyana’s LCDS and the EU FLEGT is a requirement of the LCDS, it is clear that the APA will be using the 150 thousand Euros to mislead Guyana’s indigenous peoples about Guyana’s EU FLEGT process, so as not to give their support, thereby helping to contribute to Guyana’s LCDS failure. So let me make it quite clear that should the APA be a hindrance to Guyana’s current EU FLEGT process, paid for by Guyana’s EU office, the alternative should be the withdrawal from the EU FLEGT process by the Government of Guyana.
On the 13th, 14th & 15th of June, 2014, the APA held its first “EU FLEGT Workshop” in the Barabina Community of the Mabaruma Sub-Region of Region 1 (Barima/Waini) and, according to information gathered, lots of mis-information and irrelevancies were delivered by the APA presenters, which were not consistent with Guyana’s EU FLEGT roadmap. For instance, what do land titling and the need for redrafting the Amerindian Act 2006, thereby implying that Amerindians will not be allowed to do logging, have to do with the current EU FLEGT process? Is the Guyana EU office, through the APA, helping to promote erroneous information about the goal of the EU FLEGT process and indirectly supporting the evils of forest destruction in Guyana’s Amerindian communities? Fortunately, experts from the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs (MOAA) attended the APA’s “EU FLEGT Workshop” and they corrected the misinformation that was delivered to the workshop participants. This means that the APA’s remaining workshops must be attended by the National Technical Working Group (NTWG) which overlooks the activities of the EU FLEGT process in Guyana.
Finally, the National Toshaos Council (NTC) and the Guyana Forest Products Association (GFPA), two key Forest Sector bodies which were refused funding by the Guyana EU office for EU FLEGT awareness activities, including other Non-Governmental Organisations, need to vigorously condemn the unfairness of the Guyana EU office in granting funding for the EU FLEGT awareness activities in Guyana.

Peter Persaud