Indigenous leaders of the Guianas meet in Georgetown

Apr 12, 2009 News

…to discuss threats to them and their environment

Elected indigenous leaders of French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana (countries making up the “Guianas Shield) along with non-governmental organisations will meet in Georgetown this week to deal with threats facing the indigenous peoples and their environment.

The meeting is slated for April 13 and 14 at Regency Suites Hotel in Georgetown. A special session on April 17 will take place with representatives of the government of the three countries and with multilateral institutions.

The Guyana Shield Regional Meeting, as it is called, is being organised by the three national level indigenous organisations of the Guiana Shield Region – the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) of Guyana, Organisatie Van Inheemsen (OIS) of Suriname, and the Fédération des Organisations Autochtones de Guyana Village Amérindien (FOAG) of French Guiana, in coordination with the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and the Amazon Alliance.

According to a press release, the Guiana Shield Regional Meeting will provide participant organisations with a quick overview of the major threats facing the indigenous peoples and their environment in these countries.

The Guyana participants include representatives of the eight administrative regions in Guyana in which the Amerindians live.

Participants will work to reach consensus on possible next steps, and develop a clear plan for collaborative action for the remainder of 2009 on issues of climate change and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD); the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA); and the impacts of mining.

Among the presenters are leading experts on the topics of climate change, IIRSA, and mining. They include attorney at law, David James, who is also chief of chiefs of the Toshaos of Region Nine; Executive Director of Conservation International, David Singh; Jutta Kill of the Forest and the European Union Resource Network (FERN), and representatives of ECOLEX – a database providing the most comprehensive, global source of information on environmental law, which is jointly operated by the FAO, IUCN and UNEP – DECOIN (Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag) of Ecuador; IPAM (Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia) of Brasil; European Development Fund (EDF); Amazon Alliance (AA) of the United States and the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin, (COICA).

According to Communications Consultant for the meeting, Miranda LaRose, the results of this meeting will deepen the understanding of climate change and REDD, IIRSA and mining among indigenous leaders of participating countries while informing NGOs of the perspectives and priorities of indigenous leaders.

In a press statement, LaRose said it is expected that President Bharrat Jagdeo will meet with the indigenous leaders at dinner on April 15 where it is also expected that he will brief them on his initiative in relation to the topics under discussion.

On the final day of the meeting, April 17, it is expected that participants will pass country specific resolutions regarding IIRSA, mining and REDD.