His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, will be Patron of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development (IIC) for another term to further support the Centre’s work to advance sustainable rainforest management.
Prince Charles first became IIC’s Patron in 2000 after visiting Guyana and the Iwokrama Forest and has been a strong supporter of Iwokrama’s work to develop modern rainforest conservation practices and innovative approaches to valuing the ecosystem services which tropical forests generate for the benefit of mankind. Whilst the Centre continues to receive support from donors and corporate support programmes, in recent years it has relied heavily on the Government of Guyana to support its core costs.
President Granger has charted Guyana’s green development agenda through the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) of which Iwokrama is an integral part. “With Guyana’s newly found wealth, we have to ensure that conservation remains a top priority and the Centre is, therefore, seeking support for programmatic activity from CSR programmes of multinational and other companies operating in Guyana,” Iwokrama announced in a statement.
The statement added, “Trustees, management and staff of Iwokrama, our community partners (the communities of the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) warmly welcome this news.”
Iwokrama’s models of sustainable forest management are intended to contribute to rainforest conservation by delivering not only climate protection and environmental balance, but also real guidelines for poverty reduction and the creation of wealth, in particular for the local communities whose livelihoods have, and continue to be dependent on the rainforest. The Prince of Wales’s strong personal support and continued commitment is said to be crucial to the continued work of the Centre.
