Dear Editor,

We note that there have been several letters in the media recently critical of the Guyana Forestry Commission’s administration of state forests as well as the Government of Guyana’s active efforts in pursuing direct benefits to be had from pursuing various programmes relating to climate change and forestry.

Among the current initiatives of the government is Avoided Deforestation, and it is working on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), ie in collaboration with the World Bank through the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.

As a country, Guyana stands to gain significant grants (between US$400M-US$1.0B annually) if successful in meeting the various requirements of this programme.  It is for this reason that President Jagdeo must be commended for championing this initiative.  It is also obvious that the President has been recognised by several EU leaders and the UN as one of the leading figures in advancing and advocating this initiative focused on dealing with the burning issue of catastrophic climate change.

From our perspective what is particularly attractive about a programme such as REDD, is that countries like ours can benefit directly and significantly by recognising the opportunity.  In this case industrialised countries are prepared to compensate directly countries that are demonstrating, in actions not words, a commitment to tackling causes of greenhouse gas emissions.  This contrasts with issues such as forest certification of which the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is among the leading accepted certifying bodies, and where compliance is extremely costly and customers are unwilling to pay any premium for products so certified.

The potential for direct significant rewards is enormous, and this is why we applaud President Jagdeo for his robust efforts in taking and pursuing this initiative.

Yours faithfully,
Rustum Bulkan
Precision Woodworking Limited