DESPITE continuous warnings and, in some cases, legal action, authorities continue to receive reports of illegal mining and logging within several protected areas such as the Kaieteur National Park, Iwokrama, Kanuku Mountains, Shell Beach, and the Kanashen Amerindian Protected Areas.
In a notice issued on Monday, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), in conjunction with the Protected Areas Commission (PAC), called on all miners and loggers, who carry out illegal operations within designated protected areas, to cease forthwith.
“These illegal activities are not in keeping with the various Acts that govern these regulatory agencies. As such, seizure of all equipment and legal actions will be instituted to prosecute those found guilty,” the notice warned.

Earlier this month, a multi-stakeholder team comprising representatives of the Iwokrama International Centre, together with teams from the Corps of Wardens, under the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Guyana Forestry Commission and the Guyana Police Force, carried out a monitoring and enforcement exercise in the Iwokrama Forest and buffer zone area, along the Siparuni River, where continued breaches were detected.
“The mining activities, which were detected in 2019, have escalated during 2020, owing to the COVID -19 pandemic,” the centre noted in a press statement subsequent to the recent site visits. As a result of reduced monitoring, the centre said: “Small dug pits escalated to felling of trees and use of small dredges to extract the gold hence creating huge gaps.”

Iwokrama’s authorities had indicated that its staff, along with the Government of Guyana, has expended enough time and resources on education and awareness with regard to these illegal activities, and, as such, will continue its zero-tolerance approach to these activities, especially gold mining and other illegal activities.
The centre believes that the only way to target the illegal mining activities is to maintain the five-agency task force, which continues to detect and dismantle illegal operations. “Therefore, in keeping with the mandate of Iwokrama, the centre’s monitoring team, together with the regulatory institutions in Guyana, will increase monitoring and targeted enforcement activities within the environs of the Iwokrama Forest,” the Iwokrama centre said.

The centre had previously said that it will also be rigidly enforcing the prescribed penalties under the Iwokrama Act and other laws of Guyana to any person(s) found illegally operating in the Iwokrama Forest. Iwokrama also plans to continue offering rewards for any information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of persons(s) involved in illegal activities in the Iwokrama Forest. “The centre will also be following up on information it received on specific mining operators within the Iwokrama Forest. Any convictions will be fully publicised,” the statement noted.
The natural resources ministry has now joined forces with other stakeholders, including members of the public, to report suspected cases or incidences of illegal mining and logging to the various agencies or the ministry, via telephone numbers: 231-2503, 231-2506, 231-2507; on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mnrgy; and Email: ministry@nre.gov.gy.