DESPITE a global pandemic and months of devastating and unprecedented floods, Guyana’s forestry sector has managed to make quite a turnaround, with the Guyana Forestry Commission raking in a monthly revenue of more than $90 million – a notable increase when compared to a pre-pandemic period in 2019, when revenue collection stood at $70 million.

This is according to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, who, via the government’s Department of Public Information, explained that improvements in the sector can be attributed to the implementation of specific policies.

The minister indicated that, upon assuming office in August 2020, he met with staff and stakeholders of the forestry sector to devise and enact strategies that could “boost the financial performance and management capabilities of the Guyana Forestry Commission”.

It was noted that, following the engagement, a new policy direction was taken and the forestry sector soon began recording positive changes that demonstrate the GFC’s ability to function effectively and independently.

A significant achievement, as outlined by the minister, was the ministry’s ability to convince small-scale loggers to return to their operations, as a means of supporting the construction boom that has taken effect across the country.

This, Minister Bharrat said, resulted in a notable increase in log production. He was quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying that, during 2021, log production saw a declaration of over 400,000 cubic feet, while over 100 new concessions were issued to small loggers.

The growth of the forestry sector was recorded even as the GFC was brought back from the brink of bankruptcy. As a matter of fact, when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government assumed office, the forestry commission was unable to clear its utility bills, and pay staff in a timely manner. That prompted President Dr. Irfaan Ali to approve a $350 million bailout for the commission, as part of the 2020 Emergency Budget.

That allocation effectively covered the entity’s operational costs as well as the wages and salaries for its employees for the latter quarter of 2020.

Nonetheless, the Natural Resources Minister said that, even with the forestry sector’s current growth, there are still some shortfalls, particularly in relation to the operations of larger logging companies. He told the information department that, going forward, his ministry intends to hold additional consultations and give more support to large-scale loggers, in an effort to ensure that they too reach their targets.

“Their production was very low when compared to the small loggers. This is an area we will address in 2022,” Minister Bharrat said. He was further quoted as saying that issues relating to persons “holding up State lands” would also have to be examined and remedied. “We can’t have people holding up State land. There is so much room for increased production. That is not a question that stakeholders should be worried about,” Minister Bharrat noted.

BELOW THE CUT
Last year, during a programme aired on the National Communications Network (NCN), Minister Bharrat said that, unfortunately, the forestry industry’s production is 35 per cent less than what is nationally prescribed. He noted that, in addition to boosting production, significant work will also go towards driving value-added initiatives. “When we have value-added industries, it means that you’re creating jobs there again; you’re building that Guyana brand, and that is what we want to encourage,” Minister Bharrat said.

He reasoned that significant investments will have to be made to boost the extractive sectors, because even though the petroleum industry will become a major income earner, it will not be as labour intensive as other critical productive industries.

TRADITIONAL PRODUCTIVE SECTORS
“Oil is lucrative; we will make a lot of money as a country, from oil and gas, but our traditional productive sectors are the sectors that create the bulk of the employment, especially agriculture, logging, mining,” Bharrat said.

He noted, too, that the forestry sector also stands to benefit significantly from the ongoing Forest Inventory Programme, which seeks to “take stock” of the forest resources.

This multi-year project, according to the Guyana Forestry Commission, will see the “updating of forest resource information that is essential for national and concession level planning and scientific research and referencing to support the modern outlook of the National Forest Policy and the Low Carbon Development Strategy”. The last time that a National Forest Inventory was executed was some 50 years ago.

Nonetheless, the ongoing implementation of the inventory will see field data collection on the State forests by administrative regions – all except for Regions Four and Five where no State forests occur. In 2021, the GFC targeted clusters in Regions 10, Two and Three, before moving onto Regions Six and Nine.

Minister Bharrat said that the new effort will allow for the “mapping out” of various sections of the forest, to ascertain the number of trees that it holds, the sizes of those trees, and the species to which they belong.

According to information released by the forestry commission, the inventory is also expected to provide several key benefits at the national level, including, but not limited to, the “stratification of Guyana’s forests” based on the quantity and quality of forest resources in different areas, resulting in efficient zonation of forests based on intended use; identification of areas for conservation and protection; and providing baseline data for understanding the forest dynamics in these areas; allow for efficient biological and ecological research by providing preliminary baseline data on forest species, composition and distribution; integration of forest inventories with GIS/Remote Sensing technology, using empirical national forest data to design specific technologies for the monitoring of Guyana’s forests; and provide a reference dataset on forest resources for long-term monitoring and decision-making, including creating historical records of forest use for future generations.

Further, Minister Bharrat noted that the coming years would see all extractive sectors benefitting from a number of infrastructural projects, including the much-anticipated Orealla to Moleson Creek Road. “What we are doing is to spend a lot on public infrastructure…when you spend government funds on public infrastructure, it creates jobs. It means that you would have to purchase your materials from local businesses, so you find that everyone will do well once there is public spending,” Minister Bharrat reasoned.