Conservation International (CI) has welcomed the US$10M contribution from the government for the newly established Protected Areas Trust of Guyana (NPATF).
The US$10M allocation from mining revenues was announced by Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud on Monday.
The US-based CI, which has been working here for the last 20 years on protected areas, said in a statement on Wednesday that with the Government’s contribution, the Trust has now been provided with US$18.5M, of which some US$5M has been donated by the German Development Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), and US$3.5M from Conservation International’s Global Conservation Fund (GCF).
CI’s President Dr Russell Mittermeier said in the statement “Biodiversity and ecosystems are critical for human survival. Guyana and the Guiana Shield Region as a whole where nature is still so vibrantly intact, are playing an important role in demonstrating the possibilities of growing a healthy sustainable economy while maintaining nature.”
Dr David Singh, Vice-President for the Guyana Office of CI said that the “establishment of the Trust Fund (was) an important milestone because it represents another step towards the establishment of a strong governance and institutional structure for the maintenance of Guyana’s natural capital, an important central feature of Guyana’s national Low Carbon Development Strategy”.
CI also congratulated the newly established Board of Trustees and said that the NPATF will support the establishment and management of protected areas in Guyana.
CI has been working in Guyana through the locally registered Conser-vation International Foundation for over 20.
Founded in 1987, CI is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area and employs more than 800 staff in 30 countries.
