The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment in partnership with the University of Guyana’s School of Earth Sciences and other groups planted 10 trees at the Botanical Gardens on Friday, as part of observances for World Day of the Forests.
A Government Information Agency (GINA) report said six of the 10 trees were planted near the bandstand and the others around the area of the Seven Ponds.
The Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), the Protected Areas Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, students from Tutorial High and President’s College joined representatives from the ministry’s ‘Pick it Up’ Guyana campaign in the exercise.
In his message, Minister Robert Persaud said there has been a balanced approach to the effective management of resources and sustainable use of its forests in Guyana.
The use of these resources is governed by “strong supporting policy and legislative frameworks that ensure that there is transparency in land allocation secure tenure rights to these state leases, and a robust system of checks and balance inclusive of a national log tagging and tracking scheme.”
“We have also opened these systems to international third party audits and bilateral partnerships, as seen in the initiatives undertaken under Independent Forest Monitoring, and the EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Initiative,” he said.
Speaking on the issue of deforestation, which remains one of the biggest challenges for the global environment, Persaud said Guyana has taken steps to ensure that its forest cover is maintained.
“With Guyana’s forest cover of approximately 85% of the country, Guyana has maintained a low rate of deforestation that is among the lowest in the world, reported at between 0.02% and 0.056% annually.
This has been the trend established through the pursuance of a programme of sustainable utilisation that sees multiple land use being managed, including forest harvesting, agriculture activities, and mining, among others,” Persaud said.