Conservation International Guyana (CIG) in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Saturday launched a tourism project to promote equality among communities within the Rupununi and to strengthen them.
The Government Infor-mation Agency said that 23 environmentally sustainable community-based enterprises, constructed around nature-based tourism and agriculture are at the centre of the project.
It will impact about 7,500 residents of the Rupununi in Region Nine.
CIG Executive Director David Singh, who commissioned the project at the newly dedicated Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) branch in Lethem, said that it will be executed in three phases: research and assessment, implementation and amplification.
“We will be working in business planning activities and ensuring that there is financing and technical support to ensure that those businesses are realized… and are on the road of sustainability in the line of the project,” Singh said, according to GINA.
The final component of the project will be the most pivotal, according to Singh as it will seek to craft a “model for low carbon development within the local environment” that will guide policy issues here and further afield.
With a staff complement of 25, partnership with the Guyana Government and local and international development partners including GBTI, Singh was confident that the task at hand will be accomplished, GINA reported.
GBTI as part of its corporate initiatives presented a $1.5M cheque to CIG during the launch of the project. Presenting the cheque to Singh was Chairman of the GBTI Board of Directors Robin Stoby. President Donald Ramotar who witnessed the launch said it identifies with Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy.
He stated that the government has been seeking to encourage community- based tourism in areas like the Rupununi.
“Our challenge has been one whereby we need to ensure that we can strike the right balance between conservation and development so as to meet the needs of our people, but at the same time, ensure our forests and natural treasures remain intact,” President Ramotar said.
“The Rupununi corridor represents Guyana’s premier nature tourism area and which has perhaps some of the best tourism products in Guyana and future afield,” President Ramotar declared.
