Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 20, 2009 AFC Column, Features / Columnists
The LCDS if viewed as a Conceptual Framework Document as part of a National Development Strategy (NDS) is worth every consideration as we strive towards achieving national consensus. Fortunately, Guyana already crafted a NDS that had found national agreement.
The NDS as a development blueprint incorporated Government of Guyana (GOG) sectoral policy documents including: –
• The National Forest Policy that identified Production Forests for sustainable management and industries development, Protection Forests for landscape, watershed management , biodiversity conservation management and other ecosystem services and Conversion Forests for agriculture, human settlement and other industrial activities.
• An Environmental Policy and programmes that would secure the health and welfare of all Guyanese especially in our hinterland communities.
• A Mining Policy that would ensure good environmental management practices. and
• Proposals toward for a National Land Use Policy that would provide for effective land management and development.
Unfortunately the NDS was never truly implemented. What we may need to first decide as a nation is whether there is not a need to conduct a review and update of the NDS and incorporate it into the LCDS, which now seems to be the main pillar of Guyana’s future social and economic development. To totally ignore the NDS would be an insult to those talented Guyanese, some of whom have passed to the great beyond, and who unselfishly dedicated more than two years to the production of this landmark document.
What is verifiable at this time is that this Government has yet to present to Parliament for approval a National Land Use Policy that would provide the blueprint for land management, especially securing our Indigenous peoples’ land rights and hence social and economic development for Guyana.
Advances in sustainable forest management and industries development have been stifled by the GOG’s failure to have Parliament approve new and enlightened Forest Act Cap 67.01 Laws of Guyana.
Despite many initiatives towards improving practices in the Mining Sector, our indigenous brothers and sisters continue to suffer from the cumulative effect of poor enforcement of the regulations under the Mining Act by the GGMC. This has resulted in environmental degradation of land, water pollution, mercury contamination and health problems associated with poor mining practices. It has been suggested that a recent occurrence in the Barama River may be an expression of the fears and frustrations of Guyanese living in that area.
The EPA is yet to be professionally staffed and equipped to enforce the 1996 Environmental Protection Act and its regulations.
The fears and frustrations of most Guyanese is not the promotion of new ideas and concepts. It is not motivation for us to follow the leader. It is the corruption and nepotism, the lack of access to information for effective decision-making, it is the lack of transparency and accountability, it is the political interference in management across the public sector, especially in the Natural Resource Sectoral Agencies and Environmental Management Enforcement.
After more than a decade, the successful outcome of foreign-funded programmes to develop a National System of Protected Areas, including the protection of Natural Wetlands which would have resulted in social and economic development, including benefit sharing schemes for hinterland communities, especially indigenous communities, is yet to be realized.
The Concept of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), Standards for Forest Certification, achieving a National System of Protected Areas, developing corridors to link Protected Areas for biodiversity conservation has never been fully understood and realized, especially here in Guyana.
After more than fifteen years this Government has still to get it right, but is now attempting to once again raise the expectations of Guyanese, by trying to promote and convince this nation that the newly-found enlightenment of its leader for a LCDS would ensure and guarantee Guyana’s future prosperity.
Selective consultation, spending taxpayers’ money on high gloss TV ads is perceived by many Guyanese to be the same old expectations and empty promises wrapped up in a new presentation package.
On the international scene the Kyoto Protocol never considered standing tropical forests, The Clean Development Mechanism provided funds for reforestation and a forestation projects; especially for the development of plantation forestry. Previous attempts to have the Principle of Polluter Pay Schemes implemented, have received lukewarm worldwide responses from the rich developed countries and were usually tied to conditionality, many of which were not enthusiastically embraced by the governments of beneficiary states.
There have been a number of articles in a recent publication by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO Forest Update VOL. 18 No. 4). One such article Tropical Forests Absorb More Carbon than Thought concluded that the removal of nearly five billion tons of carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere by intact tropical forests, based on realistic prices for a ton of carbon, should be valued at around US$26.0 Billion per year.”
The article went on to state that “ Tropical Forest trees are absorbing about 18 percent of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change. However, the study noted that tree growth will not continue indefinitely even if tropical forests are preserved, so the size of this sink can’t last forever. The reason proffered why tropical forests are absorbing more carbon than previously estimated is unclear. A leading suspect is the extra CO2 in the atmosphere itself, which may be acting like a fertilizer.”
Another Article: – Climate Aid is Hot Air? Highlighted in the UK’s Guardian newspaper which published a report showing that, “a substantial amount of funding slated for developing countries from rich countries to help climate change mitigation efforts has not yet been delivered. Although upwards of US$18 Billion had been pledged for such purposes over the past seven years, less than US$900 million has actually been released. The analysis found that the poorest countries have received the least help from the rich.”
A third Article: – EC Carbon Price Slump – This stated that the “ International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) reported that the European Union (EC) will not prop up Europe’s carbon market, despite plummeting prices, which are primarily linked to the global financial crisis…. Low prices will discourage developers of new projects, reducing the prospects for such projects to contribute to emissions reduction/mitigation and clean technology transfer in the developing world. The problems in the EU market have also caused other countries like Australia to review plans to establish carbon markets. ”
Though the Government of Norway must be commended for their support we must recognize that Norway cannot solve Guyana’s social and economic problems. Further Guyanese must never ever pin their hopes and depend on other nations to provide you, this nation, with financial largesse for our survival. We must together solve our problems; we must educate our people and provide them with the skills for national development. We must produce or perish.
This nation was presented with the Draft LCDS document. This Government must reach out and this nation would have to agree on the ground rules for engagement and consultation, for access to information and transparency in future negotiations toward decision-making, and when the time comes for implementation, the type of systems and bodies to agree on programmes, projects and monitoring, evaluation and verification of performance standards, and equitable benefit-sharing.
At this time as part of the communicating and engaging process the GOG must clarify the following: –
• Did the formula used to calculate the EVN (Economic Value to the Nation) consider this recent finding on absorption by tropical forest trees?
• Would there be an opportunity to review these values?
• How would the fluctuation in the carbon market prices affect the successful realization of Guyana’s LCDS?
• Would there be bilateral negotiations with Norway or the disbursement of funds be subjected to approval of other institutions.
• What further conditionality could be expected?
• What percentage of pledged funds to Guyana would be allocated to administrative costs?
• What guarantee would Guyana have that pledged funds would be transferred in a timely fashion to move development?
• What would make the embracing and implementation of this LCDS result in anything that is different from that of past experiences?
• Is Guyana’s future development to be based on the establishment of service industries only?
• How can the fear of national development stagnation be assuaged?
• How can equitable benefit sharing for human development, poverty alleviation within this nation be guaranteed?
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
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