Iwokrama Forest achieves first ever claim for verified ecosystem services and retains coveted Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™) Certification for Forest Management

Georgetown, Guyana, 28 January, 2025
PRESS RELEASE

Iwokrama Forest achieves first ever claim for verified ecosystem services and retains coveted
Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™) Certification for Forest Management.

Georgetown, Guyana. The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and
Development (Iwokrama) has received confirmation that the Iwokrama Forest has retained its Forest
Stewardship Council™ (FSC™) Certification for Forest Management following an annual surveillance
audit in November 2024.

During the recent audit, the Iwokrama International Centre was also audited for two Ecosystem
Services (ES) – Biodiversity Conservation and Recreational (tourism) Services. The Iwokrama Forest
scored another first again as the only area in Guyana and the Caribbean to achieve this accolade.
This verification of Ecosystem Services provides an additional opportunity to demonstrate positive
outcomes and provides further third-party verification of Sustainable Forest Management best
practices at the Centre. Verification of the ES means that there are no major corrective actions
against any requirements of the FSC Ecosystem Services procedure.

Iwokrama’s CEO, Dane Gobin, noted that “the Centre is proud to have scored another first for
Guyana with regard to sustainable forest management practices” He continued that “in 2008 the
Centre was the first to achieve and maintain FSC certification in Guyana. I hope that other forest
management operators will follow in our footsteps”.

Anne-Marie Ford, Head of the Certification team stated, “this achievement fortifies Iwokrama’s high
value and long established relationship of forest management with ecotourism and research.”

Iwokrama’s Certificate for Forest Management was renewed in January 2025, confirming that the
Iwokrama Forest has maintained its certification uninterrupted since October 2016 (Iwokrama
received initial certification in 2008). The Iwokrama Forest was the first forest to have maintained
this certification in Guyana and has raised the bar for forest management in Guyana.

FSC™ certification is the highest international accolade that Forest Managers can
receive, and it is testament to the Centre’s application of international social,
ecological and environmental best practices in its management of the Iwokrama
Forest. Iwokrama’s forest management procedures and policies were rigorously
measured against the Interim National Standard for Guyana (FSC-STD-GUY-01-
2020) which includes 10 principles, 70 criteria and 213 indicators. Key to the
adherence to FSC™ guidelines is that forest managers must follow all national
rules, laws and guidelines including the GFC’s comprehensive Codes of Practice. The assessment
team evaluated all elements of Iwokrama’s operations applicable to the standard to determine
compliance against national and international benchmarks.

During the recent surveillance audit, Iwokrama received only 2 observations. Non-compliances are
categorized as “observations”, “minor corrective actions” or “major corrective actions” and are a
normal part of any assessment / audit process. The number and the severity of the non-compliances
with the standard, could prevent the applicant from being maintaining the certificate.

In recent years, many international buyers and consumers have increased demands for proof of
forest products being sourced from well-managed forests. Currently, many of the major global
markets require some sort of certification for wood imports, to provide assurance to buyers that
wood comes from forests managed according to strict social, economic, and environmental
standards.

The Centre is grateful to the Government of Guyana for their valuable ongoing support to the Centre.
Special thanks are extended to the certification team of the Centre and our local community
partners, the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), for their unwavering support.

Photos below (2 included)

Notes to the Editors:

1. About Iwokrama

The Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the
Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama forest, a
unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest “in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological,
economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general”.

The Centre, guided by an international Board of Trustees, is unique providing a dedicated well
managed and researched forest environment. The forest is zoned into a Sustainable Utilization
Area (SUA) and a Wilderness Preserve (WP) in which to test the concept of a truly sustainable
forest where conservation, environmental balance and economic use can be mutually reinforcing.
The IIC collaborates with the Government of Guyana, the Commonwealth and other international
partners and donors to develop new approaches and forest management models to enable
countries with rainforests to market their ecosystem services whilst carefully managing their
resources through innovative and creative conservation practices. In more recent years, the
Centre has received support from corporate partners such as Exxon Mobil (Guyana) Limited who
has funded the development of its Science Programme and continues to provide an annual
contribution to the implementation of this Programme.

Iwokrama brings together:

• 20 local communities (approximately 7,000 people) who are shareholders and
  participants in the IIC’s sustainable timber, tourism, research operations and forest
  management activities through complex co-management and benefit sharing
  arrangements;
• Scientists and researchers engaged in ground breaking research into the impacts of
  climate change on the forest and measuring the scope and value of its ecosystem services;
  and
• A portfolio of sustainably managed and certified business models using innovative
  governance systems which include participation of the private and public sectors and the
  local communities, earning income from the forest and its natural assets whilst employing
  international social, environmental and economic best practice, whilst still keeping
  abreast of the ever changing thinking on funding for environmental projects in the face of
  climate change and the perennial scarcity of international finance.

This alliance and the Centre’s work programmes are committed to showing how a rain forest can
be used for real sustainability, real climate change protection and real community benefit.

For further details about the Iwokrama International Centre please visit www.iwokrama.org ,
www.iwokramariverlodge.com or contact Dane Gobin, Chief Executive Officer on
dgobin@iwokrama.org.

Read Full Press Release January 28th, 2025.