STAFF members of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) have received specialized training which enables them to ensure that Guyana will continue to receive financial rewards for maintaining a low rate of deforestation and forest degradation through its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

The GFC reported that its staffers had successfully completed a two-year programme, entitled “Strengthening of Guyana’s Technical Capacity to Implement a Monitoring Reporting and Verification System (MRVS)”, and other Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+)activities.

The Commission made the disclosure during a Close-off Workshop last week. It said that the programme,
funded by the European Union and the Government of the Netherlands through the Guyana Shield Facility, aimed at establishing, inter alia, the historic reference level in Guyana on REDD+ and developing the future projected approach for REDD+.

The programme had also aimed at building a two-way communication process to channel information to stakeholders on REDD +implementation; explore possible co-benefits to be incorporated into the national MRVS; and develop a set of national REDD+ Strategy options that would contribute towards maintenance of Guyana’s already low rate of deforestation and forest degradation.

The training components of the programme would contribute greatly to implementation of Guyana’s LCDS and REDD+ readiness activities, and the development of the MRVS, in keeping with the principles of efficiency, effectiveness and equity, the GFC said.

The programme is a follow on the previous phase, called the Guiana Shield Initiative, which saw the delivery of key technical assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services in Guyana.

It has been said by other sources that degradation and deforestation of the world’s tropical forests are cumulatively responsible for about 10% of net global carbon emissions, and hence global warming which triggers climate change. Therefore, tackling the destruction of tropical forests is core to any concerted effort to combat climate change.

The REDD+ initiative is a framework through which developing countries are rewarded financially for any emission reductions associated with a decrease in the conversion of forests to alternate land uses.

The Guiana Shield Facility through which the technical assistance program was done is a flexible delivery mechanism within the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is designed to promote the conservation of biodiversity and to support sustainable development in the Guiana Shield eco region.

During the Close Off workshop, a spokesman for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNR&E) noted that the programme afforded Guyana the opportunity to examine natural resources within the broader context of the Guiana Shield eco region, and identify options for moving forward.

He said that with 90% of its area covered with intact rainforest, Guyana plays a critical role in mitigating climate change and in water regulation of the Amazon and Orinoco basins.

He stressed that Guyana has a vibrant extractive sector, and  protecting the natural wealth of the eco region must be done whilst balancing the impacts of extractive activities.
Guyana has, through former President Bharat Jagdeo, been at the forefront of the move towards a REDD financing mechanism since 2006

In November 2009, Guyana and Norway signed an agreement that would see Norway handing over up to USD $250 million over five years to finance the national plan to reorient Guyana’s economy to a low–carbon path, the LCDS.

The REDD+ finance is currently being used, inter alia, to foster local development of low-carbon industries.

(By Clifford Stanley)