The Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Develop-ment, celebrating 25 years of the signing of the Iwokrama Act, is continuing with partnership building with several key agencies, the organization noted in a recent press release.
Iwokrama in expressing its appreciation recognized all the agencies that have joined forces to ensure that Guyana’s natural resources be managed and protected. The release stated that last month, Iwokrama formalized a Memorandum of Understanding with the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission and the Guyana Marine Conservation Society (GMCS) and hosted several groups of youth apprentices. Additionally, Iwok-rama staff, the Corp of Wardens and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) participated in a ranger exchange programme and joint operation to check on illegal gold mining in the Siparuni Area. Iwokrama’s release noted that the Centre enjoys a long term and solid relationship with the GPF. Iwokrama, as part of its collaboration programme, was invited by the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) to send rangers and other staff to assist and learn about Sea Turtle Monitoring. The release stated that Iwokrama and the PAC collaborate very often with training exchanges being held for staffers on a wide variety of courses/workshops over the years.
Some other key agencies giving Iwokrama support over the years include the Guyana Geology and Mines Com-mission, Guyana Forestry Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International – Guyana, the Guyana Hydromet, Fisheries Department, and more.
The release noted that Guyana has had a long history of good conservation practices and Iwokrama was a flagship initiative created in 1989 and later formalized in 1996 with the Iwokrama Act being passed. The foundation of Iwokrama is about partnerships where at the highest level the Government of Guyana developed a special agreement with the Commonwealth to create models of sustainable use of tropical rain forests, within the one million-acre Iwokrama Forest that lies in Central Guyana, above the North Rupununi Wetlands.
The release observed that critical partners have been on many levels – including government and non-governmental agencies, donors, academic institutions, business entities, donors, zoos, corporate sponsors to name a few. The Indigenous Communities in the area, who have ancestral ties to the Iwokrama forest are linked to Iwokrama though the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) and since 1996 has worked closely with Iwokrama on many projects and other developmental activities in the area. The two agencies have a Collaborative Management Agreement that gives the communities a direct say in how Iwokrama is managed.
