World Rainforest ...

FROM PAGE XVI used based on this being the average diameter at which most tropical hardwoods are mature, reproductive adults;

✔ Implementing an 8-metre proximity rule so that only one of two or more reproductive trees of a species can be harvested within that area, to retain parent trees;

✔ Designating 4.5% of productive forests in any large-scale forest operation area as a biodiversity reserve, to retain an intact, natural composition of the area for reference, monitoring, and future rehabilitation if necessary;

✔ Requiring that large-scale operations conduct pre-harvest inventories, identify trees to be cut on stock maps based on GFC regulations, and submit detailed datasheets and stock maps for reference and compliance monitoring;

✔ Allocating barcode-based forest tags for all trees harvested as part of a state-of-the-art wood tracking system;

✔ Tracking wood supply chains from tree to finished products, to verify that wood products are legally and sustainably sourced. This has been recently enhanced by the finalsation and implementation of EU-FLEGT VPA;

✔ Conducting various scales of forest inventories to collect data on type and quantity of forest resources and evaluate commercial and conservation potential for more efficient utilsation and effective management;

✔ Guyana’s REDD+ Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification System (MRVS) annually measure deforestation and forest change, as well as collects forest carbon data from destructive sampling to better inform management systems and conservation efforts;

✔ The MRVS has been a key fixture in the Guyana-Norway Agreement, reporting on the maintenance of low deforestation rates and intact forest landscapes;

✔ The Forest Area Assessment (FAA) component of the MRVS uses remote sensing to identify key drivers of deforestation and hotspots of forest change; as well as to monitor any conflicting land use and illegal activity visible in satellite imagery;

✔ A massive GIS database on forest resources, activities, and status is kept by the GFC for reference, management, and monitoring; and

✔ Since forests are still a vested interest for many other sectors and agencies, the GFC is a member of many national multistakeholder and inter-agency committees and boards to deal with mutual issues and resolve conflicts.

Guyana’s SFM framework is a living one that is constantly being improved through the findings of forest inventories and research, monitoring feedback, and stakeholder engagement. A massive National Forest Inventory (NFI) has been ongoing since 2018, with field data collection expected to be completed in 2023. The hardworking field officers have persevered through Hinterland flooding and a COVID-19 pandemic to collect priceless forest resource data that is expected to revolutionise forest management in the following key areas: informed forest allocation, planning, and management; updated forest resource information databases and maps; valuation of forest resources; and zonation of forests by use potential and resource value; and effective utilisation of resources.

Finally, balancing competing and sometimes conflicting interests will always be difficult in Guyana’s rich, complex forest landscape. However, the social value of forests, while it may be hard to see in the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and how we live, remains a part of Guyanese culture. It is easy to think of climate change as a global agenda or conservation as a political move to strengthen international relations. But the core of it, the care culture and the value that inspires it, have always come from ancestors who first learned of its value during foraging and shelter construction to university students studying forestry with passion.

In addition to our valuable, sustainable forest management framework and our ambitious low-carbon pathways to development, Guyana’s rainforests will stay standing. Our lungs will continue to breathe for generations to come because we are a people who care.