Guyana's Rainforest Supervision Proposal
Put the Country’s Rainforest Land Under International Management
President Jagdeo's interesting proposal, which he discussed in BBC New's Viewpoint will be presented more fully at the United Nations Climate Change Conference which will further the work begun with the Kyoto Protocol. Rainforest concessions have become another tool in the efforts to conserve biodiversity and reduce the impact of climate change. But what Guyana is proposing is a big leap forward.
Why Guyana is Proposing This Rainforest Concession Plan
Guyana has multiple reasons for being in the forefront of rainforest protection. The country is more than 80% rainforest yet Guyana has one of the lowest rates of deforestation in the world.
And Guyana has already begun to feel the impact of climate change. With much of its land at or below sea level, flooding is already becoming an issue. In 2005, rainfall in one month (January) was more than 60 inches. Average rainfall for January had been 7-8 inches.
The economic impacts of the flood, in a country already struggling with significant poverty, were greater than half of Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product. This makes it very difficult for the country to resist offers from global investors to permit logging or to convert rainforest to agriculture for biofuels or palm oil plantations.
The Importance of Guyana’s Rainforest
The Guyana Shield, which extends into Suriname and French Guiana (or Guyane), filters approximately 20% of the world’s water. It is also the biggest undisturbed tropical rainforest in the world. Protecting this area is vital to reducing the impact of climate change that reduces the earth’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and actively releases the carbon present in the rainforest’s trees.
Guyana has already shown itself to be actively attempting to protect its rainforests. It was the first country to sign a rainforest conservation concession lease, protecting 200,000 acres and receiving economic support from Conservation International.
What the Guyana Rainforest Conservation Proposal May Mean
While President Jagdeo has not yet revealed all the details of his proposal, the idea of exchanging partial control over the rainforest of the Guyana Shield for economic support may catch on in other countries facing the same financial and environmental challenges.
Most of the world’s rainforests are within the boundaries of developing nations. If a system can be developed whereby those countries see benefits from allowing international supervision of rainforest usage, without completely giving up their sovereignty, protecting rainforest ecosystems would be more feasible. Issues such as who would participate in the international supervision and what types of incentives would be viable will need to be decided. The instability of some governments and concerns about corruption, bribery and favoritism will also need to be addressed for the proposal to work on a broad scale. But it is certainly a concept worth considering.
While rainforest conservation concessions and the creation of national parks or wildlife reserves each have their value, a more coordinated effort to manage larger ecosystems like the Guyana Shield stands to be a more effective way of protecting the environment and ensuring quality of life for the area’s inhabitants.
Conservation Concessions Portect Tropical
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