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Revised 2018 Forest Policy…Robust laws needed to increase transparency of timber allocation processes
The Revised Forest Policy 2018 calls for robust legislation to increase the transparency of the timber allocation processes as well as other natural resources, and the continuous auditing of operations. According to the policy, this is necessary in order to ensure compliance with forest and environmental management standards, increase the delivery of goods and services at higher commodity prices, and ultimately contribute to the growth of Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product.
The Policy also outlines initiatives to continuously strengthen forest allocation and management, such as the European Union Forest Law, Enforcement, Governance and Trade (EU-FLEGT) process.
The aforementioned policy goals along with a few others, covers from last year to 2028, and will be reviewed in 2023 at the halfway stage of implementation.
The Policy reflects Guyana’s movement away from valuing of forests for simply their wood and trees, and instead, treats forests as part of the national patrimony, to be managed collectively. It notes that forests cover approximately 87 percent (18,483,000 hectares) of Guyana’s total surface area. It said that the country’s economic development and prosperity is therefore directly tied to the management and use of its forests and forested lands.
Aside from the timber industry, the policy states that Guyana’s forests are key to tourism development, biodiversity conservation, wildlife management, bio-prospecting, soil fertility and nutrient cycling, and other ecosystem services (water provisioning, carbon sequestration, etc.). Of the forestland, 12,249,000 hectares have been designated as State Forests and placed under the management of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) – 4,792,420 hectares (37.25%) of this land has been allocated to the forest industry for timber extraction.
The revised policy notes that Guyana has made steady progress in the sustainable management and use of its forests and, more recently, has been leading international efforts to more accurately value forests beyond simply their timber potential.
Following the formulation of the last policy in 2011 the document notes that a number of significant changes have occurred with relevance to the sector. It should be noted that the 2011 revision of the National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS) and the Guyana’s National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS) came in response to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana’s (CRG) promulgation of its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which established that Guyana would maintain its forest cover in order to offer climate services to the global community.
The LCDS was being used to garner payments from the international community in return for the ecosystem services the country provided. The first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the CRG and the Kingdom of Norway in 2009.
Financial support for Guyana was linked to its success in limiting greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and establishing institutions and practices to implement a REDD-plus Governance Development Plan (RGDP). This included the development of a Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System (MRVS) to provide a performance measurement framework for the REDD+ financing mechanism.
The CRG, in recognizing the need for a holistic approach to the sustainable management of the country’s forests, released the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) framework in 2016. The Strategy envisions a green, inclusive and prosperous Guyana that provides a good life for all its citizens based on a sound education and social protection, low-carbon resilient development, green and decent jobs, economic opportunities, individual equality and political empowerment.
The policy noted that Guyana serves as a model of sustainable development and environmental security worldwide, demonstrating the transition to a de-carbonized and resource efficient economy that integrates the multi-ethnicity of our country and enhances quality of life for all Guyanese”.
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