Latest update April 7th, 2025 6:08 AM
WWF to review performance in Guianas after 10 years
More than $120M is expended on an annual basis by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to aid projects and other activities aimed at environmental conservation, WWF’s Country Manager, Dr. Patrick Williams has disclosed.
And there are sustainable plans being streamlined by the funding agency even as it observes 10 years of existence in the Guianas.
WWF’s Muni Schancenbacher
According to the Communications Officer within the local office, Muni Schancenbacher, WWF is celebrating 10 years of conservation in the Guianas. WWF’s local office at Vlissengen and Irving Street, Georgetown, was established in 1999 along with offices in Suriname and French Guiana. To date, Schancenbacher said that the various projects which come under the WWF Guianas Sustainable Natural Resources Projects are currently in the third phase and should be completed by the end of 2011.
In the first phase (1992-2002) WWF initiated a successful marine turtle conservation project in the respective target countries. Also as part of this phase, significant steps were taken with the forestry authorities in achieving better forestry practices and management. Attention was also paid to gold mining and studies were undertaken in assessing mercury pollution in selected rivers of the three Guianas. In Guyana this aspect was done with expertise from the Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (IAST).
The second phase (2002-2007) saw the WWF expanding its focus to include sustainable forest management, gold mining pollution abatement and protected areas management. Marine Turtle conservation activities were however carried out under a separate project. The third and current phase of the project (2007-2011) has a scope that expands further to include freshwater management, species conservation and management, education and communication and most recently Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).
According to Schancenbacher, “We have seen quite a few highlights especially in Guyana. We have had success projects with the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS), we have worked also with the North Rupununi District Development Board and the Arapaima Management Project and more recently we have worked with the Guyana Forestry Commission in boosting local capacity for carbon credits and carbon stock assessment which contributed quite significantly to the agreement with Norway.”
According to Dr Williams, the local WWF office has been working with partners in Government, Non-Governmental Organisations and also semi-autonomous agencies. As a result, the entity has worked in collaboration with the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Wildlife Division of the Office of the President, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Lands and Surveys Department and the GMTCS. In essence he noted that WWF has worked with most agencies that have some kind of remit in the area of environmental conservation. “We have had an association with them and our programme has been broad base enough to cover aspects of their programmes,” Dr Williams divulged.
According to him, WWF has sought to join its resources with the various agencies since it has been observed that in most cases these organisations do not have enough funds. As such, he noted that WWF with its funding is able to help boost organisations’ activities even as their capacity is expanded. Additionally, he revealed that efforts are also made to work with local communities in the quest to promote sustainable development. “We plan in the future to continue along these lines. If the communities do not respond favourably then we have a long way to go…so we have to review our involvement in conservation works,” Dr Williams noted.
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