Latest update April 17th, 2025 9:50 AM
All forest incentives money will go to the state -Govt
By Leonard Gildarie
The Iwokrama reserve, Guyana - view from Turtle Mountain (Canopy Capital photo)
Any monies that come from climate mitigation efforts of Guyana’s forests will be paid directly to the state.
This is according to Government as questions are raised about last year’s deal between Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) and Canopy Capital.
Canopy Capital was established in 2007 to drive capital to the rainforest canopy. Some 20 per cent of the company is held by the Global Canopy Programme, a UK charity dedicated to the research and preservation of tropical forests. The remaining 80 per cent is funded by a dozen international investors, including the Waterloo Foundation.
The Global Canopy Programme provides advice and technical expertise to Canopy Capital. All of Canopy Capital’s investments will benefit local communities and conservation efforts in tropical rainforests as well as financial investors. Its first deal was signed in March 2008 with the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development in Guyana.
Last year March, Canopy Capital entered into a partnership with the IIC to measure and then placed a value on the Ecosystem Services (ESS) of Iwokrama’s tropical rainforest. Such services include rainfall production, water storage, and weather moderation.
The Iwokrama Reserve is 370,000 hectares of pristine tropical forest in Guyana. It lies at the heart of the Guiana Shield, one of only four remaining rainforest regions in the world. It was given as a gift to the Commonwealth in 1989 for the purpose of research into global warming and sea level rise.
Administered by an international board of trustees, the Iwokrama Reserve shows how tropical forests can be conserved and sustainably managed to provide ecological, social and economic benefits for the local communities and for Guyana and the wider world.
Questions
On Monday, Kaieteur News’ columnist, Peeping Tom, questioned the Canopy and Iwokrama deal. According to Peeping Tom, “It has been reported that in return for financing for Iwokrama, this firm secured a commitment for “ownership” rights for future environmental benefits. This column has asked- and no one has answered or followed through on the question- as to what are the implications of this deal should Guyana secure benefits under REDD. Will it mean that the foreign investor will benefit from all the monies that will be earned from this large chunk of our forests?”
Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, in a response, Monday, stressed that Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) relates to the state forest estate of Guyana and does not include private lands or Iwokrama which has been given the management access but not ownership rights to 370,000 hectares of pristine forest.
“Under the Iwokrama Act, Iwokrama is expected to undertake research and other scientific studies as well as utilization to demonstrate that SFM (Sustainable Forest Management) is possible or not.”
According to the Minister, IIC also has an obligation to promote the multiple use function of the forest management inclusive of identifying and quantifying the environmental services that forests provide.
“IIC has contracted Canopy Capital to do this consultancy on identification and quantification of the environmental services. It is a very strategic move because the results of this study can be extrapolated to include the larger state forest estate and enable Guyana to be ready to take advantage of the market for payment for environmental services (PES) which is expected to soon materialize.
IIC is aware that any financial incentives that arise out of the climate mitigation functions of forest will go directly to the state.”
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Hope is what you rely on when you do not have a plan
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been comforted by something named “Hope”... more
Collaborative Government–Private Sector Action Imperative for a Resilient Trade Future
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- On April 9, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day suspension of the higher... more
Weekend Cartoon
