CI, IDB launch nature-based Rupununitourism project - Identifies with LCDS- President Ramotar
Georgetown, GINA, October 14, 2012 -- Source - GINA
Conservation International (CI) in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched a project that seeks to promote equality and social viability among communities within the Rupununi.
Twenty three (23) environmentally sustainable community- based entrerprises built around nature-based tourism and agriculture will form the basis of the project that will impact about 7,500 residents, representing 40 percent of the Rupununi in Region Nine.
President Donald Ramotar speaking at the launch of the
Conservation International/IDB nature based tourism
Rupununi project
CI Executive Director David Singh who launched the project at the newly dedicated Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) in Lethem, explained that it will be undertaken in three phases; research and assessment, implementation and amplification.
“We will be working in business planning activities and ensuring that there is financing and technical support to ensure that those businesses are realized… and are on the road of sustainability in the line of the project,” Singh explained.
Chairman of the GBTI Board of Directors Robin Stoby at
the launch of the Conservation International/IDB nature
based tourism Rupununi project in the presence of CI
President James Singh
The final component of the project, (amplification) is the most critical, according to Singh as it will seek to develop a “model for low carbon development within the local environment” that will guide policy issues locally, regionally and internationally.
With a staff complement of 25, partnership with the Guyana Government, local and international development partners including the GBTI, Singh was confident that the task at hand will be accomplished.
GBTI as part of its corporate ventures handed over a $1.5M cheque to CI during the launch of the project. Presenting the cheque to Singh was Chairman of the GBTI Board of Directors Robin Stoby.
President Donald Ramotar who witnessed the launch said it identifies with Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and was confident that it will build on community- based tourism.
The government has been seeking to encourage community- based tourism in areas like the Rupununi with its vast eco-tourism potential, confident that more than 85 percent of the tourist dollar is left in the community,” President Ramotar said.
“Our challenge has been one whereby we need to ensure that we can strike the right balance between conservation and development so as to meet the needs of our people, but at the same time, ensure our forests and natural treasures remain intact,” President Ramotar said.
The reputation which the Rupununi holds as a model for development and conservation makes it a prime location for the launch of such a project.
“The Rupununi corridor represents Guyana’s premiere nature tourism area and which has perhaps some of the best tourism products in Guyana and future afield,” President Ramotar said in his address.
Guyana’s LCDS which is today a model for green growth received overwhelming support from Rupununi and the immediate beneficiaries. The Amerindians are benefitting from the Guyana-Norway forest carbon funds that have been released.
Guyana’s commitment to preservation and the sustainability of its natural resources has seen the enactment of legislation to quarantine sections of Guyana under protected areas. Iwokrama and the Kanuku Mountains are two such examples.
President Ramotar pledged his government’s continued support to Iwokrama despite what he said are challenges faced by the centre. The support, he said, will come with or without help from the international community.