…Trotman says project launched to build capacity in forest communities

THE Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) with aid from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) and the European Union (EU) on Monday launched a project that targets the improvement of the livelihoods of forest communities.
Titled “Improving FELGT Readiness of 69 Community Forestry Organisations (CFO) through increased awareness of related regulations,” the project also aims at strengthening their compliance with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the Department of Labour.

Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman delivering the feature remarks, noted that the EU FAO FLEGT Programme is part of a global effort that is supported by the EU to implement the FLEGT Action Plan, adopted in 2003 by EU member states in response to the global environmental, economic and social consequences of the illegal timber trade. The Action Plan outlines a series of supply-and demand-side measures to improve forest governance and legality in the forest sector and ultimately enable Sustainable Forest Management (SFM).

Grants of up to €100 000 are channeled through the EU FAO FLEGT Programme to government institutions, private sector organisations and “grassroots” civil society in timber-producing developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, to support locally driven processes that put the FLEGT Action Plan into practice. By only supporting actions that are requested directly by stakeholders, the programme enables local ownership of the FLEGT process.

“In these few simple sentences, we find an objective that is succinctly laid out – one in which through individual, community, national and global efforts, the sustainable development goals are achieved one, by one, from country to country; thus ensuring that the future of planet and its peoples is safeguarded and thus guaranteed.”
According to Trotman, the importance of the sustainable utilisation of our forest resources cannot be underscored enough. He said we see forests the world over, having increasing significance, especially natural tropical forests. “Guyana’s forests therefore have enormous national, regional and international significance in terms of economic benefits and employment generated, foreign exchange earnings at the national level, and perhaps most importantly, contribution to the mitigation of adverse climate change effects at the global level. We remain grounded though, in the recognition that this vast resource must be used for the equitable sustainable development of our people, the stewards and users of the forest – importantly at community level. This therefore requires forest resources especially at the level of communities, to be utilised in keeping with environmentally sound practices, for the provision of food, employment and income generation that would be necessary to support community livelihoods.“

The Natural Resources Minister said in Guyana, 133 forest concessions totaling over 1.2 million acres or 500,000 hectares of forest lands have been allocated to 69 community forestry groups; these small and medium-scale community operators contribute over 60 per cent of the total production in the forest sector. “I am informed that this afternoon the GFC Board will approve some more concessions, which will benefit some communities directly. Additionally, these community stakeholders employ over 2,000 persons and are exporting forest produce to many markets. Many of our value-added manufacturers and exporters rely largely on community level production to sustain their operations. As an enabling and responsible Government, we believe that benefits need to flow directly and quickly to forest users and communities, and access must not be restricted to just large operators. “

Trotman told the gathering that two 2018 initiatives supporting this policy position are the establishment of a consolidated stock yard, which will over time give rise to a guaranteed market once certain criteria are met, and a National Forest Inventory which will help forest concessionaires in better planning of their harvesting, extraction and marketing activities. This budgetary support is in the sum of $50M and $125M respectively, for a total of $175M. This support for the forestry sector came after rounds of engagements with the GMSA that were initiated by the Ministry of Finance
“We must continue to intensify our efforts for poverty reduction and improve livelihoods by ensuring that forest resources are put to the best possible use, whilst not compromising environmental sustainability. We are therefore very pleased that this effort to build capacity at the community level on FLEGT-related compliance is being supported by our international partners at the EU and FAO,” Minister Trotman said.

He noted that Guyana’s work with the EU on FLEGT provides the necessary high quality accreditation the market is looking for and gives the assurance that sustainable forest management protocols and legality standards are being followed. He recognised the EU as a long standing and reliable partner for Guyana as well as the FAO. “Our partnership with the FAO dates back to the very early work on the first national scale forest inventory, and participatory forestry. Currently, the FAO is also contributing to other FLEGT initiatives. Guyana expresses its gratitude to you both for your tangible support and we look forward to other international partners also becoming very engaged in similar initiatives.”

This project will see a joint effort of the GFC, working with local partners, the GRA, NIS and the Department of Labour to expand training and awareness on mandatory requirements for forest operators that go beyond those typically included in forest training exercises such as log tracking and reduced impact logging, to areas of compliance with tax laws, insurance requirements, and labour laws.

It is expected that this partnership will see a stronger, more integrated and synergistic implementation of agreed legality standards, Trotman said, adding that the beneficiaries of this outcome will be community operators and residents in forest-based areas. “The GFC has a national mandate to promote Sustainable Forestry Management (SFM) in Guyana, in keeping with national laws and international standards and agreements and has been successful in this regard, evident by Guyana’s rate of deforestation still being one of the lowest globally. In the year 2016, this rate was verified by international auditors at a mere 0.05 per cent. As such, Guyana has long been recognised internationally as a country that practices SFM at the concession management unit level. We are also considered to be a global leader in the fight against climate change and our Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System (MRVS) is second to none, another achievement that was born through partnership – this time with the Kingdom of Norway.”

Despite these advances, however, Trotman said the country remains committed to reviewing and revising its legislative and policy framework when necessary, to ensure that the sector operates in the best governance framework. Accordingly, in April 2018, after a thorough stakeholder engagement process Cabinet approved the revised visionary National Forest Plan and Policy Statement laying the platform for the next phase of forest development activities. To further advance this already robust Sustainable Forest Management environment in Guyana, new forestry regulations and the Code of Practice for Forest Operations were tabled on May 11, 2018 in the National Assembly. The achievements in the governance of the Forestry sector have been qualitative, the minister asserted. He said the EU FLEGT is another critical aspect of this governance framework, noting that it is anticipated that by August 2018 “we will be able to initial the FLEGT VPA agreement after some six years of national and international stakeholder engagement.” This, he said will start the formal implementation of the preparedness stage following which FLEGT licenses will be issued.

GFC’s Planning and Development head Pradeepa Bholnath, explained the project will advance the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade which started several years ago. Previously areas of NIS, Department of Labour and GRA regulations were considered to on the periphery forestry sector compliance requirements. While there has been an improvement in several areas of compliance, a forest monitoring audit showed that there are some areas that could be strengthened. Bholnath said, “Now there is an even greater importance and prominence that is given to the NIS, taxation and labour requirements. It is for this reason that we are expanding our scope on what is required for compliance.”