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Sunday April 14, 2019
Kaieteur News
Norway deal reduced deforestation 30 percent between 2010-2015 -Researcher
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is a climate change mitigation policy in which rich countries provide payments to developing countries for protecting their forests. In 2009, Norway and Guyana entered into one of the first bilateral REDD+ projects, with Norway offering to pay US$250M to Guyana if annual deforestation rates remained low – the target between 2010 to 2015 was 0.056%. The agreement was historical in scope as it was the first national scale payments for performance REDD+ project in the world. Guyana was also a critical test case of whether REDD+ would work in a country that has historically high forest cover and low deforestation rates. Dr. Anand Roopsind, a Guyanese post-doctoral researcher at Boise State University in the US, on Friday presented preliminary findings from an ongoing study to quantity the effect of the Guyana-Norway Agreement (GNA). Present at the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) conference centre were several board of directors, staffers and stakeholders of the sector. Roopsind worked at GFC and Iwokrama. GFC itself has been struggling with limited resources to ensure that strict compliance is adhered to under the arrangements with Norway. Roopsind’s work focused on sustainable forest management in Guyana and Suriname, with a special interest in assessing the impact of forestry practices and policies on forest goods and services, especially timber, carbon and
Dr. Roopsind measuring below ground carbon in tree roots in the Iwokrama Forest to study how forests will be impacted by climate change. biodiversity. Dr. Roopsind and his research collaborators were able to quantify the impact of the GNA using a statistical approach that allowed them to predict what deforestation would have occurred if Guyana did not implement the GNA. The researchers could then compare the observed deforestation in Guyana under the GNA and what would have happened without it to measure its effect. Their preliminary analysis found that the GNA REDD+ project reduced deforestation in Guyana by over 30% during the project period (2010-2015), equivalent to approximately 12.8 million tons of avoided CO2 emissions. Dr. Roopsind said that in terms of what REDD+ was intended to achieve (protecting Guyana’s forests), the analysis indicates that the GuyanaNorway agreement was effective. “Our preliminary results indicate that the project met the additionality criteria of REDD+ as a result of the
climate mitigation payments and improved forest governance.” The researcher indicated, however, that international leakage due to global commodity trade likely reduced the net effect of the GNA, and without continued REDD+ payments, forest protection may not be achieved. “The complexity of leakage, in particular, suggests that REDD+ should be implemented at the regional scale across the Guiana Shield forest biome, and that conditional forest protection payments must be sustained and not be one-off.” Dr. Roopsind emphasized that initiatives to protect tropical forests like REDD+ are critical because tropical forest loss has been increasing globally, “even as we’ve become more aware of the critical role of forest conservation in combating climate change. “The largest loss of tropical forests in recorded history took place in 2016 and 2017. Our preliminary results indicate REDD+ initiatives can work to protect forests as a climate mitigation strategy.” Dr. Roopsind is also
A few of the stakeholders on Friday during the presentation of Dr. Roopsind at GFC’s headquarters, Kingston. collaborating closely with the University of Guyana to understand the impact of climate on Guyana’s forests and training students, faculty and young professionals working in natural resource agencies the skills needed for
sustainable natural resource management in Guyana. The project is being supported through collaborations with Boise State University, University of Florida, Oxford University, Iwokrama International
Centre, and WWF-Guianas. To date more than 150 persons have been trained in various technical skills ranging from statistical analysis, to using satellite imagery for land-use planning.
Human trafficking high on the radar with the refugees’ influx at borders
There is worry about human trafficking with an influx of refugees from Venezuela. While Guyana makes provisions for the steady influx of Venezuelans at the border the issue of human trafficking continues to engage the attention of the authorities. Since last year, a few businesses were raided and owners arrested and charged for the offence. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been mandated to provide technical assistance to the Caribbean with a protocol that establishes clear lines of action— to prevent and combat trafficking in persons; to protect and assist victims of human trafficking respecting their human rights at all times. Many of the victims found
locally have been forced into prostitution and hard labour with unfair pay according to the authorities. Night Clubs and bars are often full of mostly sex workers paying lodging through their proceeds. The young ladies mostly from Venezuela and Santa Domingo are often undocumented immigrants. Only last year the Ministry of Social Protection – Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) Department – was engaging in numerous activities to raise awareness on the issues of Human Trafficking. There was a proactive approach to avoid continued occurrences of this crime of
modern slavery. Some 77 victims were rescued last year and there is concern that with the high incidence of arriving Venezuelans so far the numbers might double this year. Within its mandate, UN Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean seeks to strengthen the existing mechanisms of border control. The focus of the project on human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants is to strengthen international cooperation and coordination for the exchange of accurate and upto-date information and the facilitation of mutual legal assistance for preventing and combating the problem.