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Deforestation rate under Coalition the lowest in decade

Dec 28, 2019 News

As Guyana seeks another forest deal, possible with Norway, the country is boasting that deforestation rates has remained the lowest in that last decades.
Between 2015-2018, the rate of deforestation has hovered between 0.0048 and 0.0051 percent.
The rate is one of the main benchmarks for Guyana to collect the cash payments which under historic 2009 deal with Norway.
The deal was supposed to last for five years with the possibilities of the country collecting up to US$250M to preserve its forests.
Guyana lost about US$20M for being unable to meet a few conditions.
About US$45M was recently handed over to the World Bank which is handling trust account.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Natural Resources said it is pleased to note the announcement of the final release of remaining payments under the Guyana/Norway Agreement to a total of $9.1B.
“The basis of the Guyana Norway Agreement rests on keeping Guyana’s forest cover maintained at a high level, and concurrently, deforestation rates at a low level.
“The work associated with managing forest cover and monitoring and reporting on performance on an annual basis, essentially that which forms the performance reporting system, has been undertaken by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) since the inception of the agreement in 2010.”
The Ministry lauded the GFC, which it said fulfilled a large part of the work.
“Specifically during the period 2015 to 2018, Guyana has seen lower deforestation rates than the previous years of the nine-year reporting period to date. The MNR is especially pleased about these results as these speak to the commendable stewardship of Guyana’s forest.”
Throughout the entire period, forest cover in Guyana has been maintained at over 99%:
The Ministry pointed out that whilst reporting on forest area and deforestation rates has been a key focus for the GFC, the commission has also advanced work in the area of governance, particularly EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (EUFLEGT) and Independent Forest Monitoring (IFM).
According to the Ministry, this period has also seen an expansion of the GFC’s Community Forestry Programme that has resulted in over 500,000 hectares issued to Community Forestry Associations, which directly employ close to 3,000 persons.
“Over the past nine years, several aspects of the reporting commitments under the Guyana Norway agreement, including those described above, have seen close to 30% of GFC staff time and budget allocated to these areas.
“The GFC looks forward to a new round of the Norway Guyana agreement that will directly resource the Commission for its role.”
The Ministry said that it has recognise that the reduction in production and accompanying log exports have negatively affected the financial situation of the GFC.
“This has resulted recently in delayed payments to staff especially given the lack of a reserve.
The MNR would like to thank all GFC staff for their patience at this time. Guyana’s forests are its most pristine asset. The MNR has been pleased to support the successful implementation of the Guyana Norway Agreement and the joint commitment regarding forests.
“We look forward to a continued strong collaboration with the Government of the Kingdom of Norway in the future,” the statement said yesterday.

Year Number Year Deforestation Percent
1 Year 2010 0.056
2 Year 2011 0.054
3 Year 2012 0.079
4 Year 2013 0.068
5 Year 2014 0.065
6 and 7 Year 2015/2016 0.050
8 Year 2017 0.048
9 Year 2018 0.051
10 Year 2019 In process

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