The German government has come to the aid of Guyana’s Protected Areas Systems (GPAS) with an injection of US$6.5 million for Phase 2 of the project, which was initiated 15 years ago to protect some of the country’s richest biodiversity sites.
Yesterday Guyana and Germany finalized an agreement for €5 million in funding, which will be channeled through the German development bank BankKreditanstaltfurWeideraufbau (KfW) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, functioning as the implementing agency.
Attending the press conference announcing the grant were Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud, Honorary Consul of the Federative Republic of Germany Ben J. H. ter Welle and Executive Director of the EPA Inderjit Ramdass.
The Ministry, in a statement, noted that the current commitment of US$6.5 million will be disbursed in two tranches. The first tranche of over €1 million will be to support the establishment of the Protected Areas Commission and develop infrastructure for management of individual National Protected Areas, particularly Kaieteur National Park and the Shell Beach Protected Area. The second tranche of €4 million will be used as an endowment for the establishment of the Protected Areas Trust Fund. This phase will run for a maximum of two years.
In 2004, Germany and the Government of Guyana signed an agreement for the implementation of a €2.56 million Guyana Protected Areas System (GPAS) – Conservation of Tropical Rainforest Project. Referred to as GPAS Phase 1, this project ran from February 2006 to November 2011. It supported sustainable livelihood projects in over 30 Amerindian communities associated with Shell Beach, the Kanuku Mountains, Kaieteur National Park and the Upper Mazaruni. This initiative also led to the drafting of the National Protected Areas Act, delineation plans for both the Kanuku Mountains and the Shell Beach areas and a draft of the Kanuku Mountains Management Plan.
With the successful completion of GPAS Phase 1, and following government’s recent efforts, Germany has agreed to a further commitment of €4.3 million in funding for Guyana.
“Although a detailed Financing Agreement is to be developed shortly, it is the intention of the Government of Guyana that this new commitment will be used to further support the country’s efforts to conserve Guyana’s forests, through the Low Carbon Development Strategy and the National Protected Areas System,” the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment said yesterday.
This is said to be the latest initiative in a long history of cooperation between Guyana and Germany. The German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ) assisted Guyana with over US$7 million during the period 1996 to 2004 through the Natural Resources Management Project, which among others saw the introduction of Geographic Information Systems to agencies such as the Guyana Forestry Commission, Lands and Surveys Commission and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.
Speaking on the project, ter Welle said that Germany has decided to extend the funding to Guyana because of the shared interest for sustainable development between the two countries and because of the good relationship the countries have enjoyed and Guyana’s delivery on previous projects.
“The general policies of Germany and Guyana show a fantastic overlap – whether it is about renewable energy, whether it is about climate change, whether it is about protecting biodiversity, whether it is about low carbon development strategy. The policies in Germany are very similar to the policies in Guyana, so we are national partners,” ter Welle said.
“Guyana in the past in its relationship with Germany was very reliable and predicable. What was agreed was done. The people of Guyana and its institutions always did what was agreed, and that it not always the case in development relationships,” he said.
“I have no doubt that now that we have a Minister of Natural Resources – not only for forestry but for natural resources in general – that this relationship will continue and will further increase,” ter Welle added.
Dr. Ramdass said that the EPA as the focal point for the Convention on Biological Diversity has been working on the establishment of a system of protected areas.
“We have managed to secure support from Germany over the past five years for which we did a number of interventions in various communities in the preparation of legislation and some other related matters. That was Phase 1 of the GPAS,” he said. “We are now moving to Phase 2 with a further donation from the German government through the KfW and I want to express our appreciation to the people of Germany,” he said.
Minister Persaud said that this support that Guyana has received from the German government “will allow us to activate and realize the Protected Areas Commission.” He noted that during the last months of the Ninth Parliament, the Protected Areas Bill was passed in the National Assembly and assented to by then President Bharrat Jagdeo.
“Now we have the support of the German government to realize and implement that piece of legislation. A main aspect of it is the establishment of the Protected Areas Commission. The resources that we are getting here would allow us not only to have the institutional arrangements but to be also in a position to ensure that these areas that we have declared are properly managed consistent with our national and international obligations,” he said.
Persaud said that while Guyana’s policies with regard to the utilization of the country’s natural resources are very aggressive, activities such as mining and forestry must be done in a sustainable manner.
“I want to make it absolutely clear that what we do here would not impinge or reduce our ability to utilize the natural resources that our forest and other areas do possess but will give greater capacity in terms of the proper utilization all consistent with the sustainable development thrust,” he said.
Persaud said that the establishment of the Protected Areas Commission is linked to the National Parks Commission, the latter of which will have to be reoriented as a result of the recent legislation. “As you know currently the National Parks Commission manages the Kaieteur National Park and now that is a part of the protected areas,” he said.
“This is a very significant development. It also allows us to be compliant in terms of our commitments internationally in terms of the areas we have to make available as protected areas,” he said.
