Conservation International Guyana


Conservation International Guyana is the Guyanese country programme of Conservation International. Conservation International has worked in Guyana since 1989 and maintains offices in Georgetown and Lethem in the Rupununi. Work in Guyana has included support for conservation initiatives in the Wai-wai community of Kanashen in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region, protected-area planning, forest monitoring connected to Guyana's REDD+ programme, and projects on mercury reduction in gold mining and mangrove mapping.

History

Conservation International began working in Guyana in 1989, and the Guyana programme later established offices in Georgetown and Lethem to support its national work. The programme has worked with government bodies and other partners on conservation planning and implementation in multiple regions of Guyana.
Guyana's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan documented collaboration involving the Protected Areas Commission, Conservation International Guyana and the University of Kent to develop a methodology using Marxan to spatially map ecosystems and biodiversity areas for protected-area planning. An independent assessment of enabling activities in the Guyana–Norway REDD+ partnership described Conservation International Guyana as a facilitating partner in programme implementation arrangements.
In 2014, CI-Guyana vice president David Singh described Guyana's Low Carbon Development Strategy as intended to serve as a model for carbon-limited development that supports sustainable development, and said that public attitudes in Guyana include strong support for environmental protection.
In 2017, the Guyana Forestry Commission announced that Norway funds were released through Conservation International Guyana to support a second phase of Guyana's forest monitoring work under the Monitoring Reporting and Verification System. The MRVS is a national forest monitoring system that tracks changes in forest cover and estimates associated emissions as part of Guyana's REDD+ programme.
In 2018, Conservation International Guyana launched the El Dorado Gold Project, a programme intended to reduce mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining and promote mercury-free mining practices. Miners in Mahdia were briefed on the El Dorado Gold Project during a mining school forum and mini symposium, with the project described as engaging miners in Regions Eight and Nine toward mercury-free mining by 2025.

Activities by location

Kanashen and southern Guyana

In the Kanashen Indigenous District in Region Nine, the Kanashen Village Council received absolute title to its lands in 2004 and designated them as a Community Owned Conservation Area in 2007 under the Amerindian Act 2006. The Government of Guyana gazetted the area in 2017 as the Kanashen Amerindian Protected Area, with the Kanashen Village Council listed as the management authority; the protected area covers about 648,567 hectares. A management plan for implementation from 2022 to 2026 set out arrangements involving the community, government agencies and Conservation International Guyana, including community consultations, ranger training and baseline biological surveys.

Lethem and the Rupununi

CI-Guyana maintains an office in Lethem in the Rupununi, in addition to its Georgetown office. Work in the Rupununi and other parts of southern Guyana has included support for community conservation and protected-area management in Region Nine.

Mahdia and interior mining districts

The El Dorado Gold Project has aimed to reduce mercury use in gold mining and promote mercury-free mining practices. A mining school forum and mini symposium in Mahdia included a briefing on the El Dorado Gold Project and involved state and non-state partners, including Conservation International Guyana.

Coastal Guyana

Coastal work has included mangrove cover mapping carried out under the North Brazil Shelf Mangrove Project. In Guyana, the project worked with the Mangrove Department of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute, and Conservation International Guyana was among the implementing partners.

Nationwide

Protected-area planning has included ecosystem and biodiversity mapping using Marxan to support the design and expansion of Guyana's protected-areas system. CI-Guyana has supported implementation of the MRVS, a national forest monitoring system used in Guyana's REDD+ programme. The Guiana Shield Initiative supported national forest monitoring and verification systems used for results-based payments in REDD+ contexts in Guyana and Suriname, coordinated by Conservation International.