Nine members from five Barima-Waini and Barima Mora Passage [BMP] Communities in Region One participated in an experiential exchange programme in Region Nine, organized by the Guyana Marine Conservation Society (GMCS), from September 1st until September 10th, 2024.
A press release from GMCS said the exchange participants visited Caiman House, Shulinab village, and Wichabai Ranch to experience firsthand and learn about governance, leadership, natural resources management, and tourism from a Region Nine community context.
They also engaged with the South Rupununi Conservation Society and received hands-on training in wildlife conservation activities.
During their stay in Georgetown on the way to Lethem, on September 2nd, GMCS said the participants benefited from a workshop on village mangrove action planning and leadership led by Governance Consultant Sara Bharrat and supported by Annette Arjoon-Martins and Chelbie Gilkes of GMCS. GMCS says it will continue to engage the BMP communities in building their natural resource management capacity, including establishing and strengthening the governance of Village Mangrove Action Committees (VMACs) while amplifying the voices of women and girls. This initiative, according to GMCS, complements Guyana’s national framework set-out in the National Mangrove Management Action Plan.
GMCS said the project worked with the Warrau communities who had little formal exposure or training in natural resource management, monitoring, and tourism. Due to challenging literacy capacity among the communities, GMCS said learning by seeing and doing (experiential) is an important means to build capacity through engagement with various partner organizations and indigenous communities in Region 8 and 9.
These indigenous-to-indigenous community peer exchange of information and experiences, according to GMCS, provide valuable insights and learning opportunities that will benefit and strengthen Region One communities and their own practices. It is part of GMCS’ commitment, the organization said, to support culturally appropriate learning for Indigenous peoples. This initiative, GMCS said, was funded by the European Union (EU) under the project titled “Developing the Capacity of the Barima-Mora Passage Communities in Natural Resources Governance”.
Participants included Desmond James, Toshao of Red Hill; Monique Henry, Treasurer of Three Brothers; Orin Sam and Yoland Sam of Imbotero; Jerry Bumbury, Smith Creek CDC Vice Chair; Greg Thomas, Smith Creek Councilor; Alexander Mendonca of Aruka; Zaheer Khan and Sylvia Williams of Morawhanna.
