Iwokrama receives support from CARDI for Wildlife clubs programme

Feb 01, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – The Iwokrama International Centre has received 11 smart phones from the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) to support its STEM activities for its Wildlife Clubs Programme.

According to a release from Iwokrama, the Wildlife Clubs programme is part of Iwokrama’s larger conservation leadership initiative where community youth are groomed from very young ages to assume leadership roles in their communities and at a national level.

The programme consists of approximately 17 communities and engages around 400 children (aged 4-17) from the North Rupununi. The programme exposes youth to areas such as land management, conservation, public speaking, Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics  (STEM) robotics and biodiversity awareness, amongst other areas.

CEO of Iwokrama Dane Gobin noted “We are very grateful for this most useful support from CARDI. It will be put to good use in building capacity among hinterland youth, especially to support our Community Monitoring Reporting and Verification (CMRV) work which feeds into the national MRV.

CARDI, Officer-in-Charge, Mitchroy Thom said “On behalf of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, it is my pleasure to participate in this meaningful handover of eleven cellular devices to our wildlife partners.

He said “At CARDI, we recognize that protecting agriculture and protecting wildlife go hand in hand. These devices will strengthen communication, improve data collection, and support timely reporting from the field—each of which is critical to informed decision-making and sustainable resource management. We look forward to continued partnership as we work together to promote resilient ecosystems, sustainable agriculture, and a healthier Caribbean for future generations.”

The Centre thanked its partners, the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), for their continued commitment and support to the Centre and to the ExxonMobil Foundation for substantially supporting this programme over the last four years.

About Iwokrama

Following the acceptance by the Commonwealth of an offer by the Government of Guyana in 1989 by late President Hugh Desmond Hoyte, the Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) was established in 1996 when late President Cheddie Jagan assented the Iwokrama Act of 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama forest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest “in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general”.

The Centre, guided by an international Board of Trustees, is unique providing a dedicated well managed and researched forest environment. The forest is zoned into a Sustainable Utilization Area (SUA) and a Wilderness Preserve (WP) in which to test the concept of a truly sustainable forest where conservation, environmental balance and economic use can be mutually reinforcing. The IIC collaborates with the Government of Guyana, the Commonwealth and other international partners and donors to develop new approaches and forest management models to enable countries with rainforests to market their ecosystem services whilst carefully managing their resources through innovative and creative conservation practices. In more recent years, the Centre has received support from corporate partners such as Exxon Mobil (Guyana) Limited who has funded the development of its Science Programme and continues to provide an annual contribution to the implementation of this Programme.

Iwokrama brings together:  20 local communities (approximately 7,000 people) who are shareholders and participants in the IIC’s sustainable timber, tourism, research operations and forest management activities through complex co-management and benefit sharing arrangements.

Scientists and researchers engaged in groundbreaking research into the impacts of climate change on the forest and measuring the scope and value of its ecosystem services.

It has a portfolio of sustainably managed and certified business models using innovative governance systems which include participation of the private and public sectors and the local communities, earning income from the forest and its natural assets whilst employing international social, environmental and economic best practice, whilst still keeping abreast of the ever changing thinking on funding for environmental projects in the face of climate change and the perennial scarcity of international finance.

This alliance and the Centre’s work programmes are committed to showing how a rain forest can be used for real sustainability, real climate change protection and real community benefit.

For further details about the Iwokrama International Centre please visit www.iwokrama.org , www.iwokramariverlodge.com  or contact Dane Gobin, Chief Executive Officer on dgobin@iwokrama.org

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• CARDI, Dane Gobin, Iwokrama, Wildlife clubs

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