The Iwokrama Inter-national Centre on Friday announced that it has received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification for its forest in what could be a major boost to the commercial prospects of this sustainable logging research facility which has faced funding woes for many years.
FSC is an international not-for-profit organisation aimed at the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide. Certification verifies that products come from well managed forests and this could help to make sustainable logging from the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development marketable.
A release from Iwokrama said that the FSC certification followed a main assessment undertaken by Soil Association Certification Limited of the UK during September.
“The Iwokrama Forest is now the only area in Guyana that has been certified for meeting international best practices for Forest Management”, the release stated, noting that Iwokrama received similar recognition by international auditors in 2008 and kept up these credentials throughout the first phase of its timber harvesting operations.
The release said that “FSC certification is the highest international accolade that Forest Managers can receive and it is testament to the Centre’s application of international social, ecological and environmental best practices in its management of the Iwokrama Forest”, a million acres in central Guyana. The release said that Iwokrama’s forest management procedures were measured against the FSC Standard adapted for Guyana V2.4 (based on ST-FM-001-07) which includes nine principles, 65 criteria and 236 indicators.
Iwokrama said that key to the adherence to FSC guidelines is that forest managers must follow all national rules, laws and guidelines including the Guyana Forestry Commission’s (GFC’s) comprehensive Codes of Practice. The assessment team surveyed all elements of Iwokrama’s operations applicable to the standard to determine compliance, the release added.
It said that during the recent main assessment, Iwokrama received only minor non-compliances and observations and the institution is committed to correcting the areas deemed non-compliant before the annual surveillance visit within the next 12 months.
Iwokrama pointed out that in recent years many international buyers and consumers have increased demands for proof that forest products are being sourced from well-managed forests. This matter has recently arisen here as it relates to greenheart sales to the UK. In May 2015, a technical note released by the UK to contractors for government-funded projects, among others, stated that “they will apply the timber agreement policy rigorously and they will only buy timber from legal and sustainable sources, which currently prohibits purchase of new greenheart from Guyana.”
Iwokrama stated that currently, all of the major global markets demand some sort of certification for imports and to this end the European Union and the Government of Guyana are also pursuing a Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade which will allow more access of Guyana’s wood to European Union member countries.
In relation to the certification, Iwokrama thanked the German Government for providing support through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit- implemented Caribbean Aqua-Terrestrial Solutions Programme. It also thanked the Guiana
Shield Tropical Timber Programme of the Netherlands.
Iwokrama also expressed gratitude to President David Granger and the Government of Guyana.
Iwokrama had its origins in a 1989 announcement by then President Desmond Hoyte at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malaysia that Guyana would set aside one million acres of virgin forests for sustainable logging studies.
The Iwokrama International Centre was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama forest.
Over the years Iwokrama has struggled to find viable revenue streams and has had to rely on donor funding and assistance from the Guyana Government.
The Iwokrama forest is zoned into a Sustainable Utilisation Area and a Wilderness Preserve.
