THE Corps of Wardens recently visited Iwokrama where they participated in a ranger exchange programme and a joint operation to check on illegal gold mining in the Siparuni area, along with Iwokrama staff and the members of the Guyana Police Force.

Iwokrama and the Guyana Police Force share a long-term and solid relationship.

According to a release, over the past few months, Iwokrama was invited by the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) to send rangers and other staff to assist and learn about sea turtle monitoring. Iwokrama and the PAC collaborate very often with training exchanges being held for staffers on a wide variety of courses/workshops over the years.

Guyana has had a long history of good conservation practices and Iwokrama was a flagship initiative created in 1989 and later formalised in 1996 with the Iwokrama Act being passed.

The foundation of Iwokrama is about partnerships where, at the highest level, the Government of Guyana developed a special agreement with the Commonwealth to create models of sustainable use of tropical rain forests, within the one million-acre Iwokrama Forest that lies in Central Guyana, above the North Rupununi Wetlands.

Critical partners have been on many levels including government and non-governmental agencies, donors, academic institutions, business entities, zoos, corporate sponsors to name a few.

The Indigenous communities in the area, which have ancestral ties to the Iwokrama forest are linked to Iwokrama through the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) and since 1996 has worked closely with Iwokrama on many projects and other developmental activities in the area. The two agencies have a collaborative management agreement that gives the communities a direct say in how Iwokrama is managed.

The release noted that within the past month, Iwokrama has seen formalised memoranda of understanding signed with the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission and the Guyana Marine Conservation Society (GMCS).

Iwokrama also continues to be grateful for the support given by the Minister and Ministry of Natural Resources and was happy to host several groups of youth apprentices recently.

Some other key agencies giving Iwokrama support over the years include the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International – Guyana, Hydromet, Fisheries Department, and more.

The media continue to provide stalwart support to Iwokrama and noteworthy are the National Communications Network (NCN) and Real FM 93.1.

“Iwokrama continues to celebrate 2021 as a special year which represents 25 years since the Iwokrama Act was signed and would like to express appreciation to all agencies that have joined forces to ensure that Iwokrama, and, by extension, Guyana’s natural resources, is managed and protected. Partnerships matter as at the core of conservation is always the people,” the release concluded.