Guyana’s deforestation rate decreased slightly last year compared to the previous year, according to the second interim measures report on forest change prepared under the Guyana-Norway REDD+ partnership.
The report, which was released recently, said that mining continues to drive deforestation in Guyana with the industry accounting for 94% of the 9,796 hectares deforested in the 15-month period from October 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011.
The second performance report on Interim Measures for Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Forest Degradation+ (REDD+) under Guyana’s Monitoring Reporting and Verification System (MRVS) was completed as part of Guyana’s MRVS Roadmap for REDD+ and performance reporting process, under the Memorandum of Understanding between Guyana and Norway. The report was jointly produced by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and Indufor Asia Pacific (INDUFOR), and includes an independent accuracy assessment conducted by the University of Durham, United Kingdom. Stakeholders have until July 6 to give feedback on it.
According to the report, for the 15-month (Year 2) period, deforestation has remained relatively constant at 9,796 hectares per year. “This is equivalent to a deforestation rate of 0.053%/year for the period, which is very similar, and actually a marginal percentage lower, to the Year 1 rate (12 months) of 0.056%/year,” the report said.
It said that the main deforestation driver for Year 2 is mining, which accounts for 94% of the deforestation in this period. “It should be noted that the driver of mining, includes mining infrastructure. A majority (96%) of deforestation is observed in the State Forest Area. Additionally the temporal analysis of forest change post 1990 indicates that most of the change is clustered around existing road infrastructure and navigable rivers,” the report said. “This provides a useful basis for planning an ongoing monitoring programme that focuses on key hotspot areas. The findings of this assessment will enable targets for REDD+ activities to be designed, that aim to bring about the largest positive impact in maintaining forest cover while enabling continued sustainable development and improved livelihood for Guyanese,” it said.
If the deforestation rate had risen above Year 1’s 0.056% level, payments under the partnership would have been reduced. Norway has committed to provide up to US$250 million to the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) up to 2015, based on independent verifications of Guyana’s deforestation and forest degradation rates and progress on REDD+ enabling activities. Since the agreement was inked in 2009, Norway has paid US$70 million into the fund and the Government Information Agency has reported that a further US$100 million will be paid this year.
The deforestation as a result of the Amaila Falls road has not been included in the calculation of the deforestation rate due to it being identified as critical national infrastructure that is part of Guyana’s transition to a low carbon development path and thus excepted. For Year 2, the area associated with this development is 225 hectares.
The report noted that overall, Guyana‘s Year 2 deforestation rate is very low when compared to the rest of South America, which according to the FAO 2010 forest resource assessment is tracking at an annual deforestation rate of 0.41%/year.
