Surprise, surprise, large scale logging to return, decimating our forests. Why would a country involved in fossil fuels ALSO engage in decimating our forests? Enter the Chinese again. Old friends reunited to dig gaping holes in the forest and sell our resources for NOTHING.
New countrywide concessions for large scale logging on the cards—Bharrat
Kaieteur News- The export of timber and value added timber produce has declined in recent years, leading government to pursue increased production and value-added forest products for export, and as such will be putting up more forest concessions countrywide for logging.
This is according to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, who, during a recent meeting with stakeholders involved with the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), observed that given financial and other constraints over the past few years, there had been a decrease in exports.
Bharrat has since announced that in this regard—to support an increase in production for domestic consumption and export—GFC will be advertising vacant areas for logging in the Berbice, Demerara, Essequibo, and North West for eligible small, medium, and large-scale forest operations.
The Natural Resources Minister used the opportunity to remind that the recently approved Log Export Policy implemented by the administration only serves as an interim measure by the Government that acknowledges the challenges the industry continues to experience in value- adding and productivity.
The policy implemented from 2020-2025 would seek to ensure that concession holders, sawmillers, and timber dealers will be allowed to export logs at varying export levy rates dependent on which schedules of timber species they fall under.
Bharrat during his meeting sought to assure the stakeholders present that the Ministry of Natural Resources through GFC will continue to promote and support Forest Sectors Operators involvement in wood processing by sawmills and lumberyards, and exporting of Guyana’s forest produce and that over the past 10 years, approximately 300 sawmill licences annually, have been issued.
According to Bharrat, the sector currently remains a significant contributor to the economy of Guyana through the creation of employment and the expansion of the sawmilling and export market.
GFC statistics, he said, indicate that between 3000 and 5000 persons have been employed annually in the expanding sector.
The Forestry Commission with aid from the European Union (EU) through the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under its FAO EUFLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade) Programme recently launched a project that targets the improvement of forestry training institutions’ capacities to provide updated and relevant training that meets the current needs of the sector.
The Ministry in a recent statement noted, that the project also aims at empowering agencies such as National Insurance Scheme (NIS), Ministry of Labour—among others—with the tools to support capacity building programmes.
The Action Plan outlines a series of supply and demand side measures to improve the enforcement of forest laws, strengthen governance and trade, and ultimately ensure sustainable forest management practices.
