— in collaboration with the Indian High Commission

IN today’s stressful world, many are looking for places to get away, to rejuvenate themselves and Iwokrama has long been interested in the tourism market of nature-based healing. This year, Iwokrama has planned to launch the Iwokrama River Lodge as an ideal spot for just this. Surrounded by the energy of the magical rainforest and the soothing Essequibo River, the Iwokrama River Lodge offers the opportunity for many to come and revive, restore, rejuvenate.

According to a release, to celebrate World Yoga Day 2021, Iwokrama, in collaboration with the Indian High Commission, presents ‘Yoga for Health, Yoga in the Forest’ by running a retreat from the June 18 to 21, 2021. Activities include health discussions, yoga exercises, nature walks and boat rides to name a few.

Iwokrama plans other activities for health and wellness in the future as this is recognised as a vital aspect and especially with overcoming the very stressful period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

World Yoga Day is celebrated on June 21, 2021. For more information on the retreat, persons can contact Manager, Mike Patterson at email: mpatterson@iwokrama.org or mobile no: 643 2622 or Dr Raquel Thomas, Director, Resource Management and Training at email: rthomas@iwokrama.org or 674 8669.

The Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama Forest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest “in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general”.

The Centre, guided by an international Board of Trustees, is unique, providing a dedicated well-managed and researched forest environment. The forest is zoned into a Sustainable Utilisation Area (SUA) and a Wilderness Preserve (WP) in which to test the concept of a truly sustainable forest where conservation, environmental balance and economic use can be mutually reinforcing.

The IIC collaborates with the Government of Guyana, the Commonwealth and other international partners and donors to develop new approaches and forest management models to enable countries with rainforests to market their ecosystem services whilst carefully managing their resources through innovative and creative conservation practices. In more recent years, the Centre has received support from corporate partners such as ExxonMobil (Guyana) Limited who has funded the development of its Science Programme and continues to provide an annual contribution to the implementation of this Programme.