THE Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and its respective regulatory and supervisory agencies, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, performed well in 2014. This can be attributed to the governance of the sector and protection of the environment as a result of significant inputs, expansion and improvement during the year.

Guyana Geology and Mines Commission

Each of the nine areas under the purview of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) showed marked advancement.
The Guyana Mining School and Training Centre Inc. trained in excess of 220 interested persons, while the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) was employed to advance revenue transparency and accountability.
Under Support for Hinterland Infrastructure, the GGMC spent approximately G$1,064,247,723 and G$477,403,837 on roads and building infrastructure for 2014 respectively, adding to the ease of movement of people and products.
Environmental management in the mining sector advanced with the ministry and WWF Guianas signing a grant agreement ($28M) to support national capacity-building.

The Land Reclamation Project saw Government allocating $500M for the execution of restoration, replanting and rehabilitation of areas subjected to mining.

Government had signed and ratified the Minamata Convention in 2013 and 2014 respectively, as this seeks to address a global consensus that mercury use must cease, with attention being paid to health and environmental risks. Government earmarked a sum of $ 1 Billion for a revolving fund, towards mercury-free mining development, in another effort to safeguard the environment.
The Oil and Gas Policy was approved at the Cabinet level and is premised on investment
in upstream exploration activity, and effectively regulating an upstream oil and gas sector. The extractive industry is targeting primarily the mining sector also, another global initiative to which Guyana has subscribed. Today the country is now linked to the EITI website. Guyana has spent $25M on a consultancy to develop the scope of the study to prepare for that; a firm out of the United Kingdom has done a preliminary report and is due back soon, so that Guyana’s membership in the EITI can be advanced.
A Foreign Direct Investment Study was completed on the impact of investment in the local extractive sector. It catered for the assessment of the impact of investment in extractive industries on fiscal revenues; employment and local content; technological capabilities; and the environment.

The gold trade, covered under the GGMC, must be seen in the context of the international drop in price for the metal. The price fell on average by 22% in 2014. Total declaration at December 20, 2014 showed a decrease by 22.61% over the corresponding period in 2013; and gold purchased by the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) fell by 41.24%. Dealers’ quantity of gold exported increased by 10.16%, whilst the GGB’s quantity of gold exported fell by 40.26%. Thus, the overall quantity of gold exported is down by 22.73%. Moreover, the value of gold exported by dealers increased by 10.86%, whilst the revenue garnered by the GGB decreased by 43.48% during the comparative periods. The total revenue for the comparative time period fell by 23.45%.

Environmental Protection Agency

The agency proposed a national ban in the form of the Environmental Protection (Expanded Polystyrene Ban) Regulations, 2015 due to the fact that Styrofoam is adding immensely to solid waste challenges in Guyana.
Enforcement and Compliance Regulations were advanced as the agency, in partnership with WWF-Guianas (World Wildlife Fund) embarked on a project to strengthen the EPA’s capacity for the management of environmental and social impacts of development activities.
Government enacted the Environmental Protection (Litter Enforcement) Regulations, with the goal of reducing litter nationwide. The Wildlife Management and Conservation Regulations were gazetted in late 2013. They are intended to provide for the domestic management and conservation of wildlife, to regulate the capturing, gathering, collecting, hunting, killing or taking of wildlife for any purpose. Also, the regulations cater for appropriate arrangements for the classification of wildlife and areas.
The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) is aimed at implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity, as Guyana has crafted its Strategy and Action Plan for Bio-diversity Conservation.
The ministry advertised for a consultancy to restructure the EPA with the aim of improving its organisational structure, supported by improvements in revenue generation options and commitments to enhancing institutional capacity.
There were 438 applications for environmental permits which are in varying stages of processing. Applications are in the areas of Mining, Forestry, Industry, Infrastructure and Energy, Agriculture, Fisheries and Tourism,

Hazardous Waste/Materials and Air Quality Management.

Wildlife Division
The Wildlife Import and Export Bill is intended to create a national framework and mechanism to govern the international trade of wildlife in Guyana, while at the same time fulfil obligations under the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species (CITIES). The final bill has already been vetted by the Ministry of Legal Affairs and was presented to Parliament for enactment.
Guyana Lands and Survey Commission

This body works in three general areas, one of which is a National Land Use Project which was developed with the support of the European Union (EU). It is not a prescriptive document; it is rather intended to provide the overarching policy framework for land use decision-making co-ordination amongst land-based sector agencies. The document is still to be completed.
Another aspect, the GIS Policy was submitted to Cabinet for approval and a recommendation has been made for an Advisory Council to govern its implementation. It deals with the use of geographic information systems and the building of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), in pursuit of sustainable national development.
Meanwhile, the establishment of the GL&SC’s enforcement unit was approved by Cabinet to deal with illegal occupation of all state lands and Government reserves.

Investment and Environmental protection
Meanwhile, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, noted that environmental protection is a challenge that countries such as Guyana will always face. Guyana is covered with 85% tropical rainforest, and boasts very sensitive biodiversity systems in different parts of the country. Speaking on a recent programme, “Eldorado Shines,” on the National Communications Network (NCN), he noted that over the years Guyana has demonstrated that those challenges can be addressed through opportunities presented. These include the exploitation and development of the natural

resources which exist in the general environment along with sensitive biodiversity within the rainforested area. Guyana benefits through the development of its natural resources as these bring about economic benefits that the country’s eco-system and eco-services within the rainforests and rich biodiversity present.
Whilst this is the approach taken, there continues to be that challenge. It is constant work and sometimes varies. This requires innovation as to how to maintain that balance in terms of protection management, and of the environment, Minister Persaud said. It also points to developing natural resources and creating opportunities through the attraction of investments, local as well as foreign.
This has been the main focus of the ministry in 2014. Thus, during the year, Guyana developed the implementation framework in terms of legislation, policies, plans and working and engaging stakeholders. The underlying objective/thrust of that has been how to ensure/regulate the equilibrium for environmental management, as well as development of the country’s natural resources.

Transparency
Minister Persaud added that one of the responsibilities of Government is to create transparency and accountability. Being the only country in the Caribbean with a procurement act, Guyana has also subscribed to a number of international conventions. However, there continues to be accusing fingers pointing at the Government.
Every single question that has been asked in parliament of the sector has been answered, and a number of annual reports have been made current, he said, and reaching out to a number of groups within the sector has now moved it to another level. Stakeholders and opposition Members of Parliament have access to the ministry’s staff as well.

Foreign companies
Minister Persaud stated that foreign companies operate in accordance with the laws of Guyana with no discrimination between foreign or local companies. All across the political spectrum are convinced that foreign potential is essential for producing growth across the country.
Whilst the political spectrum of Guyana agrees that foreign direct investment is essential to catapulting growth in the national economy, Guyanese should be proud of the fact that people want to bring their hard-earned investment dollars to develop opportunities for the people of Guyana.
He added that with no ambiguity in terms of national consensus, specific terms of the details of investment are also very clear and open. These agreements include loans publicly made available with documents being provided to Parliament when required. No laws are violated and dossiers of additional information are also provided.

Protected Areas Commission
The Three Parks Initiative: the Botanical Gardens, Zoological Park and National Park forms the core components of Georgetown’s network of green spaces. The ministry has proposed a comprehensive plan with the objective of enhancing key facilities and rehabilitation of infrastructure in each of these “green” spaces, and thus increasing the ability to generate revenue for long-term sustainability.
Meanwhile, the Petting Zoo, part of the Three Parks Initiative became operational. It was constructed to improve the aesthetic and educational experiences of children and adults visiting the zoo.
Under the National Protected Areas System, the Protected Area Commission, established under the Protected Area Act of 2011, was equipped with a newly constructed office building. It continues to develop and manage Guyana’s National Protected Area System through Management Plans. In 2014, the National Protected Area Trust Fund was launched with an immediate commitment of $2 Billion from Government.

Guyana Forestry Commission                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     The ministry has publically made available Guyana’s Monitoring Reporting and Verification System (MRVS), Year 4 Report (2013). The findings of this assessment provide a useful basis for planning an on-going monitoring programme, focusing on key hotspot areas.
Guyana and the EU are seeking to form a partnership under the existing EU FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) Action Plan, that places direct emphasis on recognising all forest legalities: ensuring that the benefits from forest resources utilisation flow to the right beneficiaries; preventing unfair competition between illegal and legal produce; maintaining a low rate of deforestation and forest degradation; making sure of sustainable development of forest dependent communities; and mitigating against climate change in a REDD+ framework.

The support for the REDD+Readiness Programme in Guyana is a three- year, US$3.8 million Technical Cooperation (TC) programme, the objective of which is to assist Government in REDD+ efforts.
The Geospatial Information Management Unit, one of whose main functions is to provide information on monitoring and compliance to the ministry and agencies under its purview, was engaged in mining deforestation analysis, land reclamation project support, Amerindian land titling project support and near real- time analysis during the year.

Logging
Minister Persaud explained that Guyana is currently struggling with the issue of under production, which means that the perception of large- scale deforestation is a total case of misunderstanding. The increased production of just above 40 percent over 2013-2014 is heartening whilst the monitoring report of verification system points to the monitoring enforcement and system that are well below in terms of the rate of deforestation.

Mining
The minister added that whilst mining is a very critical sector of the economy, it’s not only for gold, but also bauxite. There has been sustained, as well as intense attention given to what is taking place such as gold prices dropping by as much as 22%.
With the miners themselves taking the situation in hand with the removal of mercury within the mining sector, bringing in mercury- free technologies, this has shown that the sector itself is not only adjusting to the economic imperatives, but also social and environmental ones.

Finding oil/ gas in commercial quantities in 2015
Minister Persaud explained that with the intense interest along with two companies close to the point to commence exploratory drilling, which Exxon and Repsol will both be advancing, they are looking at the interpretation of the data which they have collected to complete that exercise within January and February. CGX has also seen some sort of foreign input of larger companies coming to work in terms of gathering the data to go about the process of identifying areas where work can be done.
2015 should also see some renewed activities in the process of oil exploration. Exxon Mobil will be investing in excess of US$300M in drilling next year. Minister Persaud pointed out that it is expected that very soon Guyana would be in a position where there will be a commercial discovery. The US Geological Survey has shown that Guyana has in excess of 16 billion barrels off shore.

Projection
In 2015, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment plans to continue to work and provide the legal frameworks and institutions, to support growth, to ensure the effective management of natural resources on which development depends, and protect the human rights of its citizens.