The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), continues to invest in Guyana’s forestry sector

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization country representative Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul said this is aimed at addressing local needs and national priorities which reflect internationally agreed principles.

“ In the case of Guyana, the agreement is aimed at enhancing the capacity of Small Loggers’ Associations (SLAS) in Guyana to meaningfully participate in national forest dialogue. This will be achieved by building up their technical capacity in forest management and by developing their capacity to undertake community based enterprises to improve their livelihoods. The initial support will focus on ten associations while it is expected that by the end of the project a total of 20 associations will benefit from the support funding” Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paulsaid.

Fletcher-Paul pointed out that the specific areas of support include forestry policy and law, forest management, tree identification, timber grading, ITC, poultry rearing and Handiraft.

“These initiatives by FAO in Guyana are aimed at building capacity, improving the livelihoods of and promoting sustainable management by the people who are involved in the forestry sector. They therefore, fit perfectly with this year’s theme for international year of the forest – forests for people which celebrate the central role of people in the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of our world’s forests. They are also consistent with Guyana’s low carbon development strategy”

Recently the FAO approved a US $9500  ‘Teleford’ project which will see the construction of a sawmill hall for the Upper Berbice forestry and agriculture producers association.

Meanwhile, Government has undertaken a number of forest management initiatives to effectively manage Guyana’s rain forest.  In this regard Guyana was recently named by the International Tropical Timber Organization as one of the few countries with a notable progress in sustainable forest management.