Land Development and Management Project…Pres. Granger says initiative will help Guyana strengthen land governance

Jan 19, 2018 News

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Guyana’s land-based natural capital must be managed sustainably if present and future generations are to enjoy the ‘good life, President David Granger said yesterday morning.
Addressed several guests at the signing ceremony of the Sustainable Land Development and Management Project which was held at State House, Granger noted that sustainable land development is essential to protecting Guyana’s natural patrimony and ensuring economic development.
The President said that the government is already crafting a Framework Document of the Green State Development Strategy in order to ensure sustainable development. Granger said that land use planning and natural resource management are among the core strategic areas.
He said that the ‘strategy’ will place emphasis on the effective management and protection of Guyana’s land and marine resources, ecosystems and the rich biodiversity of these systems, inter alia.
The Head of State asserted that land resources could be degraded, depleted and devalued by both natural and man-made actions. He said that rising sea levels, caused by global warming, have eroded the nation’s natural sea defence structures.
He said that the state of some of Guyana’s drainage systems has allowed for intrusion of salt water into farmlands. He said, too, that excessive rainfall could lead to the swelling of rivers; affect soil productivity and exact crop losses.
The President said, “The increased demand for lands for farming, logging and mining has increased the threats to our natural capital. Logging and mining are the main causes of deforestation. Small-scale mining alone accounted for 89 percent of deforestation over the past three years.
“River mining is polluting our waterways on which many hinterland residents still depend for bathing, drinking, fishing and washing.”

He continued, “Reckless use and management of land can impact adversely on the environment and citizens’ quality of life. Land degradation has the potential to affect food security, sustainable livelihoods, poverty reduction and social stability. Guyana therefore recognises the importance of protecting its land assets. It knows that the land degradation will result in natural resource depletion which, if not controlled, will lead to underdevelopment.”
Granger added, “Guyana has committed itself to preserving its land assets. It has agreed to place an additional two million hectares of our territory under conservation and convert the Iwokrama International Center for Rainforest Conservation and Development into a world-class biodiversity research facility.”
The President said that the Government will continue to promote more efficient mining and logging practices, including post-extractive land reclamation; push sustainable forestry practices including reduced-impact logging and improved forest monitoring and pursue mineral mapping so to identify areas of marginal, or less than viable, mineral deposits.
He said that these are the steps at the international level, to which Guyana has agreed in order to protect its patrimony and provide environmental services for the rest of the world.
Granger said that Guyana’s green development agenda demands the fulfillment of these environmental obligations. He said that it demands the adoption of practices to better manage the nation’s land resources and the augmentation of institutional capacity to improve monitoring and verification of land use.
He said, too, that it demands the modernisation of archaic land development and management systems along with integrated land development and management practices to resolve the problems of land degradation.
The President insisted that land governance is central to the green development agenda.
The Head of State said that the Sustainable Land Development and Management Project aims at improving land governance by: promoting good environmental stewardship, sustainable land use and management practices; planning, monitoring and evaluating capacities of state institutions concerned with land management; and, preventing land conflicts; increasing land reclamation of degraded public lands and reducing degraded areas.
The Sustainable Land Development and Management Project will allow Guyana to protect its natural capital by reducing land degradation. It promotes responsible farming, logging, mining and other land uses.
The President said he is confident that it will allow Guyana to build capacity, strengthen its land governance and move more quickly to the goal of becoming a ‘green state.’

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