GOLD mining in the Siparuni area has drastically decreased due to the combined efforts of Iwokrama’s rangers, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Guyana Police Force, the Iwokrama International Centre has said.

According to an annual report from the rainforest conservation body, in 2022, a decrease in illegal mining was recorded.

While the report did not reveal any specific statistics, it did, however, state that some persons still continue to defy the law and continue to trespass into the Iwokrama Forest.

Nevertheless, the report said that monitoring continues with the implantation of a comprehensive monitoring system, through which data is collected and analysed, to monitor changes in naturally dynamic systems and the impact of human activities on the ecosystem.

It includes social, bio-physical, road and river, forest impact, wildlife, water quality and boundary monitoring.

Social monitoring applies a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework that allows for the identification of trends and implementation of mitigation measures.

Bio-physical monitoring identifies target components to monitor pressures acting upon the ecosystem. The information, when analysed, is used to detect and identify trends over the period and informs management systems and forest management planning.

Meanwhile, Iwokrama has existing memoranda for co-operation for community co-monitoring with Surama, Apoteri and Rewa villages, the three indigenous communities located near the rivers that border or pass through the Iwokrama Forest.