The devastation of neighbouring Brazil’s forest by raging fires should serve as a stark reminder of the need to preserve our green spaces, says Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman. He noted also, that this tragedy augments the need for a local forest inventory, which is being conducted by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).
Trotman at a media conference last week at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre said that the last inventory was conducted some 50 years ago and, with all that has happened since then, there is a need for another.
“The last one was done fifty years ago, so we’re happy that we’re doing another inventory…I think it [is] timely as we look at what is happening in horror, in fact what is happening in Brazil, we appreciate even more the value of forests,” the minister said.
The Guyana Standard was informed that the sum of $120M was set aside to commence the project, which began in October last year and is expected to last three to four years.
Chairwoman of the GFC Jocelyn Dow, back in 2017, said the inventory will be an ancillary initiative to complement the implementation of the second phase of the Monitoring Reporting & Verification System (MRVS) under the Guyana Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiative.
The inventory is expected to help the GFC with the distribution of concessions in the industry. “It will be that the person who is applying for it will be able to tell exactly what they are going in for [and] how much is on the ground,” Dow said.
Dow also said that the GFC will be working closely with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to ensure reclamation of mined-out areas.
“We want to make sure that they can perhaps do the same level of zoning and closing of areas so that we could do the reforestation,” she was quoted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) as saying.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, “A forest inventory is the systematic collection of data on the forestry resources within a given area. It allows assessment of the current status and lays the ground for analysis and planning, constituting the basis for sustainable forest management.” (http://www.fao.org/sustainable-forest-management/toolbox/modules/forest-inventory/basic-knowledge/en/)
