NATIONAL Parks Commission (NPC) continues to record growth in revenue over what obtained in the previous years and in 2012, it had surpassed the projected sum by $21M.

The main goal of the NPC is to manage the natural and cultural resources of the National Parks on behalf of the people of Guyana through conservation, education and awareness while affording the opportunity for open-air recreation for future generations.
The National Parks Commission was established in March 1972 to manage and control and develop park areas and work in collaboration with the Local Government Authorities in the establishment of new parks.
The Commission is governed by the National Parks Act, No. 23 of 19977. Currently, the NPC takes responsibility for the National Park, Botanical Gardens, Zoological Park, Joe Vieira Park and Kaieteur National Park.

MORE VISITORS

According to NPC’s Annual Report 2012, the growth over the past years was primarliy as a result of increased visitations at Kaieteur National Park, among other ventures.
The significant increase of visitors over the last year is a solid indicator of the growing international awareness of the site as a tourist destination of great appeal.
The Commission achieved its highest ever visiation at Kaieteur National Park in 2008.

SMALL BUDGET

The NPC in 2008, despite its small budget, accomplished many achievements. In that year, with the support of the Government of Guyana, the staff, associates and donors made the Commission a stronger and more viable institution.
In 2008, the rehabilitation of the stadium in the National ParK was done and the government funded the installation of a walk-in cold room at the Zoological Park, worrth over $2M. This was done to increase food storage capacity for the animals at the zoo. Funding was also received to rehabilitate all the lawn maintence equipment.
Government support has enabled the NPC to make changes on the road to improvements in addressing the maintenance and resource protection.
In 2012, the NPC completed the Play Land rehabilitation with the support of a series of donors, the lead group being the Inner Wheel Club of Georgetown.
The Play Park was expanded to include a benab and washroom facilities and was also designed to accommodate differently-abled children. Many other activities of this nature were done over the past years to improve the infrastructure of the Park.
In November 2012, the NPC in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Guyana Police Force launched the Operation Safe Park initiative, which was designed to boost security at the Botanic Gardens and the National Park.
The Commission also received donations and assistance from many local businesses.
For the National Parks Commission, 2009 and 2010 were very productive years but there were many challenges due to the small budget.
This increase in revenue was attributed to the increase in visitations to the Kaieteur National Park, Zoo and the increase in landscape service requests.

EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS 

Several initiatives were undertaken in expanding the awareness aspect of the Commission. The National Park, over the years, is particularly focused on improved signage – littering, animals in the Parks and smoke free zones.
In 2012, Tree Labels were installed in the gardens, identifying the names of the trees, scientific names, family and country of origin. The Zoological Park offers a Wildlife Education Programme for Primary and Secondary Coastal Schools – The Nature School.
Under the NPC, the Zoological Park holds an annual camp called “Zoo Camp”, which runs for four weeks. The camp is designed to have children engaged in meaningful fun exercises, while at the same time learning something that has an impact on the society and environment.
The NPC in 2009 under the Kaieteur National Park provided training and capacity-building for the staff of the Commission. This allowed for the staff to perform at a higher level with improved output and efficiency.
During 2012, the Botanical Gardens had many improvements, including the revetment of manatee pond and land reclamation. The waterway was cleaned by MACORP (Machinery Corporation of Guyana) through the loan of an excavator. The Botanical Gardens is now well known for its bird collection and is constantly growing as the premier bird-watching site in Guyana.

(By Sandy Agasen)