Press Release 04 June 2004

Iwokrama Reaches Another Milestone in its Plan for Sustainable Timber Production

Georgetown, Guyana -- Iwokrama International Centre announced that last Tuesday, 25 May 2004 it submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval its draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for proposed timber production in the Iwokrama Forest. The EIA, produced with assistance from WWF - Guianas (part of World Wildlife Fund for Nature), is a comprehensive picture of the proposed timber harvesting operation, known as Iwokrama Timber Products (ITP), containing detailed information about such topics as environmental impacts studies, community consultations, forestry management plans and marketing analyses. The aim of ITP is to provide to the world a model of protected area timber harvesting that demonstrates environmental sustainability, social and cultural sensitivity, and economic viability.

After the public announcement on 12 November 2003 that an EIA of the project would be conducted, scoping meetings were held in the Annai District of Region 9 and Georgetown. Iwokrama's Director General (Ag), Graham Watkins, Ph.D., considers that "the process leading up to the implementation of its timber operations has been extremely valuable as it has addressed key environmental and social issues that are best considered during the operational design phase rather than revised later on in the project cycle".

The EIA, assisted funded in part by a grant from World Wildlife Fund, was produced by CEA Limited and a team of consultants including Clint Edmonds, Ph.D. (Environmental Management Specialist), Janette Bulkan (Social Ecologist), Gary Clarke, Ph.D. (Forester), and Vanda Radzik (Community Development Specialist). The consultants have indicated that the impacts on the ecosystems of the forest and nearby North Rupununi wetlands will be small and manageable and will not affect regional ecological integrity provided the measures proposed in the EIA are adopted. The area of social and cultural influences will include the North Rupununi Sub-district and may extend elsewhere in Region 9 as well as Region 8.

At its January 2004 meeting, the International Board of Trustees made a policy decision to facilitate a timber harvesting enterprise. The project will be developed in partnership with the local communities represented by the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), and private sector investors and will be governed by a shareholding agreement which respects the interests and rights of all parties.

ITP has been designed and will be operated in accordance with the Iwokrama Act of 1996 that established Iwokrama International Centre and the Iwokrama Forest in central Guyana. The plan also meets the requirements of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and Environmental Protection Agency, and operations will be designed in accordance with the principles of both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO). The proposed Iwokrama timber operation will continue to show that small developing nations like Guyana are playing an important role important global role in sustainable forest management.

ITP will be commissioned within two years with an estimated capital investment of US$1.4 million. The employment potential is 70 persons. ITP intends to harvest up to 6,000 cubic metres of timber annually from the Iwokrama Forest. Larger-scale alternatives that would increase the flow of financial benefits were considered, but were rejected primarily for business reasons. Not proceeding with the project was also rejected because a flow of benefits would not materialize and the sustainable forest management objectives of Iwokrama would be compromised. The timber produced will be geared toward high value niche markets for tropical woods that have been extracted in a sustainable manner. Over the next five years, once the operation becomes established, there will be opportunity for appropriate expansion.

The EPA published a public notice that the EIA was received and the public has until 29 July to review and send comments to the Environmental Assessment Board. Iwokrama greatly welcomes and strongly encourages comments by the public to both the EPA and directly to Iwokrama.

Additional information about Iwokrama's timber initiative and links to the EIA report are available online at http://www.iwokrama.org/business/timber.htm.