IWOKRAMA warns against mining on reserve
Nov 14, 2024
Iwokrama Forest View from Turtle Mountain Summit (IWOKRAMA warns against mining on reserve )
Kaieteur News-The Iwokrama International Centre has expressed concern about the number of requests it has been receiving for access through its forest to other areas.
In a public advisory, the centre said several North Rupununi Communities have also complained about this situation. “These requests are against the background that the Forest has been faced with illegal mining since the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Centre is challenged with these illegal incursions. Iwokrama has also noted that some of these requests have been disguised as “research” proposals from the same individuals,” the advisory stated.
The Centre’s Management Team and Board have reminded persons that there will be no access permitted through the Iwokrama Forest to any mining or forestry lands and that no mining is allowed in the Iwokrama Reserve. “Logging, hunting and fishing are all prohibited in the Iwokrama Forest unless permission is granted by Iwokrama’s management,” the advisory sated.
Furthermore, the Centre has warned that it has a zero tolerance for these illegal activities as they are disruptive and threaten the integrity of the forest and its coveted international certification. “Any unauthorised persons found in the Iwokrama Forest will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law including but not limited to the provisions of the Iwokrama Act,” the advisory noted.
The Centre thanked the NRDDB- its community partners and other stakeholders for their support in this matter. The Centre said too that it is especially grateful to the Ministry of Natural Resources and their agencies, and the Guyana Police Force for their ongoing support in enforcing the provisions of the Iwokrama Act.
The Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama forest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest “in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general”.
The Centre, guided by an international Board of Trustees, is unique providing a dedicated well managed and researched forest environment. The forest is zoned into a Sustainable Utilization Area (SUA) and a Wilderness Preserve (WP) in which to test the concept of a truly sustainable forest where conservation, environmental balance and economic use can be mutually reinforcing. The IIC collaborates with the Government of Guyana, the Commonwealth and other international partners and donors to develop new approaches and forest management models to enable countries with rainforests to market their ecosystem services whilst carefully managing their resources through innovative and creative conservation practices. In more recent years, the Centre has received support from corporate partners such as ExxonMobil (Guyana) Limited who has funded the development of its Science Programme and continues to provide an annual contribution to the implementation of this Programme.
(IWOKRAMA warns against mining on reserve )
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