Several camps and a shop that were found to be operating on the fringes of the Iwokrama forest were removed during the past week as the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development has moved to step up monitoring and enforcement to guard against illegal mining incursions.
The Centre said that camps and shop, operating in breach of the Iwokrama Act, were detected after its staff along with teams from the Corps of Wardens under the Ministry of Natural Resources, Guyana Geology and Mines, Guyana Forestry Commission and the Guyana Police Force, carried out a monitoring and enforcement exercise in the Iwokrama Forest and buffer zone area, along the Siparuni River.
While noting that persons in charge of the camps and shop were repeatedly told by regulatory agencies to remove from this zone, the Centre said they “were removed with some assistance”.
According to the Centre, the illegal gold mining incursions in the Iwokrama Protected Area started since April 2019 and became measurably worse in 2020, during the COVID restriction period. A reduction in monitoring capacity during that period, the Centre said, saw small dug pits escalated to felling of trees and use of small dredges to extract the gold hence creating huge gaps.
The Centre said that it and the Government of Guyana have expended time and resources on education and awareness with regard to these illegal activities and as a result Iwokrama management is continuing its zero-tolerance approach, especially towards gold mining and other illegal activities in the area. The Centre also said that it is grateful for the continued support from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Guyana Police Force, as well as the other agencies which have been aiding with handling the issues.
It added that in keeping with the mandate of Iwokrama, the Centre’s monitoring team together with the regulatory institutions in Guyana will increase monitoring and targeted enforcement activities within the environs of the Iwokrama forest. It also stated that prescribed penalties under the Iwokrama Act and other laws of Guyana will be enforced against any person(s) found illegally operating in the Iwokrama Forest.
Under the Iwokrama Act, no mining, forestry or other resources utilisation activity shall be carried out on the site by any person other than the Centre, except with the prior written permission of the Centre, while no lease of land or permission to use land in the site shall be issued by any person other than the Centre, and all activities on the site shall be in accordance with regulations prescribed under the law. Additionally, the law states that any person who contravenes these provisions “shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period of one year, and where the offence is of a continuing nature, to a further fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars for each day during which the offence continues after conviction.”
The Centre stated that in September 2019, a miner was arrested for illegally mining in the Iwokrama forest and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had indicated that this individual should be charged and brought before the court under the Iwokrama Act. While in October 2020, during a surprise operation, the inter-agency team found itself targeted by gunfire from miners who quickly scampered away into the forest. Following this interaction, only one person was arrested. The Centre mentioned that the arrested person who is the son of a prominent businessman in the North Rupununi area is now before the Court.
The Centre also said that a reward is still being offered for any information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of persons(s) involved in illegal activities in the Iwokrama Forest. No amount was listed. The Centre will also be following up on information it received on specific mining operators within the Iwokrama Forest. Any convictions will be fully publicised, the Centre said.
Reports of illegal activities can be made to the Centre’s Director of Resource Management Dr Raquel Thomas at rthomas@iwokrama.org.
Around a million acres of forest in central Guyana was set aside in 1989 for sustainable forestry studies by Iwokrama.
