Latest update April 7th, 2026 12:30 AM
Satellite imaging available to track illegal mining
– Persaud
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Robert Persuad has announced that in an effort to stamp out illegal mining and to ensure that extractive practices are being conducted with the environment in mind his ministry has implemented satellite imagery to keep track of activities within that sector.
According to Persaud, “we have just recently established to assist in terms of monitoring deforestation as well as land degradation, real time satellite imagery where at any one time we can track where dredges are, where there is mining activity, their specific location we can pinpoint to where there are hotspots of immediate deforestation.”
He underscored the importance of having this type of information at MNRE’s disposal, since, according to Persaud, “it can tell you every mining activity that is causing deforestation with more than ten hectares.”
Officials will be able to track the source of illegal mining.
He explained that they have already started a programme of aerial surveillance, working with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) utilizing their aerial assets, and
“we are talking to the private aircraft operators where we are going to fit on them monitoring equipment so that with the flights in and out, we would be able to review footage and see what is taking place…” said Persaud.
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