A excessive proportion of the forests of Guyana is main forest, and the huge forest space includes an necessary inventory of carbon. Whereas about half of the nation’s forests are used for timber extraction, forests fulfil a number of land-use features and are a vital a part of the nationwide patrimony.
Guyana is the primary South American nation implementing the Voluntary Partnership Settlement (VPA) on Forest Legislation Enforcement, Governance and Commerce (FLEGT). The VPA implementation is ongoing with the expectation for the primary license to be issued in 2026. The European Union (EU) has dedicated to offering funds to help with the VPA implementation.
Forests cowl roughly 87 per cent of Guyana’s land space, making it one of the vital forested international locations on the planet. Guyana’s forests are globally acknowledged as extraordinarily worthwhile reservoirs of biodiversity and supply a broad vary of companies that aren’t restricted to however embrace timber manufacturing and environmental companies.
A excessive proportion of the forests (roughly 45 per cent) of Guyana is main forest, and the huge forest space includes an necessary inventory of carbon. Whereas about half of the nation’s forests are used for timber extraction, forests fulfil a number of land-use features and are a vital a part of the nationwide patrimony.
The VPA on FLEGT entered into pressure between the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the European Union (EU) in June 2023 because the mechanism to cut back unlawful logging, enhance governance, and promote commerce in legally produced timber.
To maneuver ahead on the implementation of the VPA, the present Motion is outlined by the EU to help the Guyana Forestry Fee and the forest stakeholders to implement the required regulatory adjustments, system audits and joint analysis, and obtain the FLEGT license system. The Motion will probably be carried out by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
The Motion can have an implementation interval of three years and a contribution of two million euros from the EU and will probably be intently aligned with different EU funded programmes equivalent to “Assist for the implementation of the FLEGT VPAs”, carried out by Agence Française de Développement (AFD), “Sustainable forest livelihoods for communities of Guyana and Suriname” for the interval 2023-2027 additionally carried out by AFD, and with the Forest Partnership “Forest Governance and Worth Chain” programme.
Outcomes for steering:
- Improved compliance of Guyana forest sector governance system with the EU Forest Legislation on Governance and Commerce (FLEGT) necessities, together with to operationalize the Guyana Timber Legality Assurance System (GTLAS).
- Strengthened participation and improved compliance of stakeholders within the VPA-process, and within the implementation of sustainable forest administration practices.
- Enhanced data alternate for FLEGT compliance between EU and Guyana companions and make sure the long-term sustainability of the FLEGT VPA
A few of the advantages of the VPA for the Guyanese forest sector embrace:
- Improved forest governance
- Lowered unlawful logging
- Elevated market entry
- Facilitate compliance of the non-public sector with the upcoming nationwide certification commonplace
- Elevated incentives for sustainable forest administration
- Capability constructing
- Improved livelihoods
- Enhanced international local weather motion
The funding is being offered by a contribution settlement signed between the EU Guyana Workplace and IICA.
The settlement was signed in Georgetown by the Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union to Guyana, Rene Van Nes, and the IICA Consultant in Guyana, Wilmot Garnett.
In witness had been Vickram Bharrat, Guyana’s Minister of Pure Sources; the Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Guyana, Joan Nadal Sastre, representatives from the Guyana Forestry Fee; and the Everlasting Secretary of the Ministry of Pure Sources, Joslyn McKenzie.
