THE wildlife trade is expected to resume soon, following the operationalisation of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2016.
The Act, which enables the establishment of the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission, was signed into order on June 1 recently by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon. The operations of the wildlife division fall under the Department of Environment (DoE) which rests under the ambit of the Ministry of the Presidency. The division previously had operated under the Ministry of Natural Resources.

An official of the DoE told the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday that the commission members are expected to be named soon. The signing by Minister Harmon this month would see the commission being able to undertake its mandate, which ensures the body take responsibility for managing the country’s compliance with the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a pact which has been ratified by Guyana.
Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, piloted the legislation relevant to the sector through the National Assembly last year and on August 9, 2016, the bill was passed by lawmakers. The explanatory memorandum of the Bill explains that the commission, which has the power to enforce the provisions of the Act, is to be funded by a Wildlife General Fund.

The functions of the commission include the granting, amending and cancelling of licences, permits and certificates in respect of activities related to species of wildlife; monitoring and enforcing licences, permits and certificate compliance; determining the annual ‘closed season’ timeframe for the hunting, trapping and trade in species of wild fauna.
The commission will also facilitate, promote and support mechanisms in which local Indigenous villages may participate in the effective protection, conservation, management and sustainable use of wildlife on their titled lands. The body will be tasked with ensuring the establishment of policies and procedures for the protection, conservation, management and sustainable use of wildlife by and for the benefit of all citizens of Guyana and in particular the communities and villages living in proximity to wildlife. It will also ensure the establishment of facilities for the quarantining of imported species of fauna and flora, including those species imported for the purpose of re-exportation.

Under the provisions of the Act, a Wildlife Scientific Committee will be established. The functions of the body include providing advice to the commission on matters relating to the importation, exportation, re-exportation and introduction from the sea of species specified in the act and advising the commission of the measures, including the establishment of quotas, to limit the grant of export permits when the population status of a species so requires.
In the 2017 National Budget, a sum of $20M was set aside for the operations of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission.

Over the years, there have been concerns by animal rights activists over the state of the wildlife trade, including the protection of animals and the trapping of certain species. As such, the authorities have been making moves to further strengthen the operations of the sector. In September 2014, a woman was caught by the authorities along the Lethem/ Georgetown trail transporting a young puma in her pickup. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at the time, the dehydrated animal, which is also an endangered species, was found with others in the tray of the pickup.