-exports down, domestic use up
The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is preparing to undertake an enlarged scope of activities, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud says.
Speaking at a media briefing at the GFC yesterday, Persaud, who has responsibility for the forestry sector, highlighted the developments, changes and adjustments it has seen over the past year. He said that 2009 saw the intensification of the realignment of the commission to undertake emerging and new responsibilities. He noted that the Commission is shifting from a primarily timber extraction and product development focus to one where it is looking in a more holistic way at the role of forests and the contribution it can make not only to national development, including in the context of climate change.
Activities done last year by the Commission included securing funding for the kiln project-with installation of the kilns expected to be done this year-and work done on a chain of custody system for logs.
Meanwhile, with regard to production, the Minister disclosed that there was a 3.3% decrease in log production in 2009, amounting to 266,198 cubic metres compared to 275,319 cubic metres in 2008. He said that log exports decreased by as much as 33%. “The fact that we’ve seen that significant decline in log exports, especially since the log export policy came into effect from the first of January last year, it tells us in fact that this policy is working and certainly the value added sector within the country is growing,” said Persaud.
In this regard, he noted that there had been a 9.2% increase in sawn lumber production above 2008. Production last year was 73,118 cubic metres compared with 66,958 in 2008. The minister said that total forest exports in terms of forest produce declined by as much as 19 % when compared with 2008. He said that better orders are anticipated this year. He said that while there was a drop in exports, domestic consumption has increased as much as 60% so the drop in exports was compensated for by availability on local market.
With regards to forest monitoring, Persaud said that last year, the GFC increased its capacity and there are now close to 165 forest monitors. This year, he said, this will be increased. He also pointed to resident forest monitors in large concessions for ongoing monitoring. At the Forest Training Centre, he said over 340 persons were trained last year.
He spoke on the realignment of the GFC, noting that in recent times it has had to implement a number of initiatives. “What we have here is the widening of the scope of the GFC,” Persaud said, adding that these activities allow the GFC to become the lead agency for the REDD+ initiative under the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). GFC has and will continue to be integrally involved in the preparations and awareness as it relates to the Low Carbon Development Strategy and the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding with Norway, he said. He noted that to take advantage of these and other emerging activities, the necessary institutional framework, mechanisms, and support have been put in place.
The harmonisation of land use legislation and policies are activities the GFC is involved in, said the Minister. He noted that discussions are taking place within the mining sector. “I can comfortably say that the forestry sector is prepared in terms of these new and emerging developments. What we found is that the mining sector has not been totally prepared,” he said, emphasising that discussions are ongoing.
In relation to the Readiness Preparation Plan for the FCPF, Persaud noted that the GFC led in this and it has been approved and they are now awaiting the disbursement of resources from the World Bank for preparatory activities.
He said that the GFC has started work on forest carbon stock assessment and to date 135 biomass plots have been established.
A roadmap for a Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system has been prepared, he noted. The Minister also pointed out that Guyana has entered into a cooperation agreement with Brazil to improve its monitoring capabilities. He noted that Brazil has been effective at using satellite images and they are also looking at how the two countries can collaborate and share these resources and how Guyana can benefit from work done by Brazil in this regard. He assured that despite the enlarged scope of the GFC, there will continue to be a role for a vibrant and competitive timber sector.