Pandemic is final nail in the coffin - Small loggers

Pandemic is final nail in the coffin – Small loggers

Apr 25, 2020 News

As the stories continue to emerge as Guyana battens down the shutters against COVID-19, the fallout is continuing to affect the various sectors.

Small loggers plead for help as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cut deep.

Small loggers have joined the cries for help, making it clear that the current situation is “the final nail in the coffin”.
According to loggers, with mounting pressures from the international community on illegal logging, they have been sidelined and allocated “worked out lands” by the Guyana Forestry Commission, which is poor in high value woods, which cannot meet the requirements for export.
It was pointed out that lands that were once under the control of Baishanlin at Kwebanna and Waico, did not filter down to small loggers.
Pointing to the high application fees and the large number of interested parties to the concessions, the loggers insisted the Opposition should send a strong message to the GFC.
“On the other hand, when small producers supply logs to sawmills and lumberyards we are often robbed of our measurements.”
The loggers pointed out that as it relates to forestry and the low carbon development strategies by the European Union, it is difficult for Guyana’s timber to be shipped illegally, as there are strict requirements of paperwork from varying departments.
It was pointed out that the necessary fees are paid to the Guyana Forestry Commission and the Guyana Revenue Authority.
In fact, the uses of wood are well known in Guyana – in the construction industry; in homes for furniture; decorative uses and bio fuels for cooking and heating, among many other things. In other words, the demand for wood in the commercial and international marketplace has never decreased, since there is always a major demand, the loggers said.
“Loggers are working with specific guidelines from the Forestry Commission – a concessionaire is only required to harvest a specific number of logs in cubic metres from his or her logging concession or as the term applies – a quota system. The quota system is very efficient and has been used for many years before the introduction of the Low Carbon Development Strategy Initiative.”
The loggers pointed out that Guyana’s deforestation rate is low from logging, which simply means that the forest is still intact and there is hardly any threat that any one concessionaire can reach the full production target.
“The highest deforestation rates in Guyana are from open pit mining for gold or bauxite, which leaves vast expanses to exposed or deforested areas. Please don’t blame us poor loggers for these barbaric acts to our beloved earth.”
The loggers called on the GFC and other authorities step in.
There are dozens of logging groups around the country with a significant number of them located in the Upper Berbice, Region 10 area.

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