Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad on Friday declared the Botanical Gardens a bird sanctuary, at a ceremony hosted as part of this year’s Tourism Awareness month of activities.
According to a press release, the garden is an important birding area in Guyana, boasting a land mass of 185 acres and over 189 bird species from 41 families. “We want to guarantee a safe haven for the birds of the Botanical Gardens,” Prashad said, adding that the ministry collaborated with the National Parks Commission and the Guyana Amazon Tropical Birds Society in order to make the sanctuary a reality.
The minister noted that birding is one of the fastest growing niche markets in the world and it is the fastest growing outdoor activity in the United States where over 51 million persons have reported to have gone on a bird watching trip. With over 870 species of birds, Guyana is considered a birding hotspot and has been described as “the top new neo-tropical birding destination and one of the best birding spots in the world,” Prashad said. “One of our most notable success stories in tourism in Guyana is in this area of bird watching,” he said, explaining that the ministry’s market-driven strategies focus on birding as a niche in collaboration with USAID/Guyana Trade and Investment Support, Wilderness Explorers and other stakeholders.
The release said a number of birding familiarization trips have also been conducted which saw participation from some of the top birding operators, magazines and ornithologists and over 30 international companies selling birding trips here.
Guyana’s birding has also been featured in a number of publications, on international television programmes and Guyana has participated in the British Bird Watching Fair. Also, Guyana is now said to be ranked with Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica and is competing well on the international scene where even South Africa is interested in copying its model and strategy.
