AS threats loom over the Amazon Basin, Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has vowed to lead a collective call to muster support to safeguard the region’s forest and plant and animal life.

Dr. Ali, earlier this week, presented a detailed outline of Guyana’s strategy in conserving its forest at the 2024 Concordia Amazonas Summit.

“We believe that we cannot speak about biodiversity, forest and protecting the forest without speaking about food sustainability [and] energy sustainability because they are important components of the model,” the Guyanese leader said while engaging stakeholders at the Baganara Island Resort, Essequibo River.

Guided by its Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), the government has a vision for the promotion of fair and sustainable development, while simultaneously safeguarding the nation’s forests, which constitute approximately 85 per cent of its total land area.

“We live in a world where people have needs and wants, so in building out the model we must be able to address those needs and wants,” Dr. Ali stressed.

The Amazon Basin includes roughly 60 per cent of the world’s rainforest and harbours 10 per cent of the planet’s known form of life – including more than 40,000 plant species, 1,300 bird species and several million species of insects and other invertebrates.

“In just 50 years almost 20 per cent of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed,” he informed stakeholders.

Scientists have warned that the region is dangerously close to the forest’s breaking point: 25 per cent deforestation.

“Collective action is needed now. Our environment, our people will not survive if we do not protect biodiversity …we can shout as hard as we want but if we don’t get key stakeholders involved in the discussions of biodiversity and get biodiversity on the agenda, then we will not get where we want to be,” he stressed.

In 2009, Guyana became the first developing nation to introduce a LCDS.
In the same year, Norway and Guyana reached an agreement to collaborate on the development of a model advancement payment for forests.

The President of the country at the time, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, along with Mr. Erik Solheim, the Minister of Environment and International Development of Norway, entered into an agreement which involved Norway providing financial compensation to Guyana for its forest-climate services.

Through that approach, the country has successfully executed transactions worth nearly US$1 billion for the climate services rendered by Guyana’s forests. Out of this amount, US$227 million originated from the bilateral agreement with the Government of Norway, while an additional US$750 million resulted from the sale of ART-TREES credits in 2023.

THE CUSTODIANS
Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples have served as custodians of the forest for generations, deeply connected to its rich biodiversity and vital resources, which sustain their way of life and cultural heritage.

Recognising this, the government has committed 15 per cent of the country’s earnings from its trees to Amerindian communities across the country.

The first payment of $US150 million was made in 2023, of which a staggering GYD$4.7 billion (US$22M) was deposited into special bank accounts of 242 hinterland, riverine and Amerindian villages nationwide.

This allows Indigenous villages to chart their development and prosperity as well as achieve self-sufficiency by investing in priority areas such as agriculture, tourism, women and youth and income-generating initiatives.

At present, over 811 projects are being executed simultaneously ranging from tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, and industrial arts and crafts, among others, all aimed at boosting sustainable livelihoods.

Aside from this, the government has been supporting communities, ensuring that prosperous programmes are being rolled out.

“Today we have invested in training thousands of indigenous young people into medics [and] health care workers. So, they are supplying their own teachers, they are supplying their own nurses and we are giving them the opportunity to become trained right in their villages. So, you can become a trained teacher, a registered nurse. Those are the things that we are doing.”
President Ali received high praise for his leadership role in not only conserving forest but prioritising the livelihoods of people.