Large scale allocation of Guyana’s pristine rainforest breaches int’l best practice

Jan 28, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

A recent article in another newspaper titled “GFC’s hurried allocation of State forest will be a national environmental disaster” serves as a gentle reminder that public officials have a duty to exercise due care for the Environment when making decisions.
The use of the phrase hurried allocation of state forest does not adequately represents the disastrous consequences that this allocation of approximately one million of Guyana’s Pristine rainforest will have on Guyana’s Environment, the Flora and Fauna, plant and animal lives and the lives of Forest People and our Indigenous brothers and sisters. These concessions cut across very sensitive eco systems and the allocation for rampant cutting down of trees and thereafter export of raw logs will disturb the natural eco system leading to potential wide spread death of a range of plant and animal species, insects, butter flies, harpy eagle and other rare plant and animal species. This is not what we called good environment practice.
Guyana has been on the fore front in the fight against climate change and how our forest helps to protect our environment and mitigate the effects of climate change. This recent development of reckless allocation goes against every grain of Guyana’s effort over the last 10 to 20 years on climate action.
Additionally, I believe that these allocations may not have followed international best practice for allocation of prime natural resources. Large scale allocation I believe needs to go through a very thorough and transparent process. The mere or HURRIED approach to sparsely advertise for less than one month I believe breaches international best practice and presumably it’s also against the forest laws of Guyana. Allocation must be guided by the spirit and intention of the Forest Laws Act 6 of 2009 and the Green State Development Strategy which speaks of Forest Conservation and Protection and not “THE CHOPPING DOWN OF OUR TREES.”

Sincerely,
S. Hamid

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