Collaborative Enforcement Activities see Arrests of Illegal Miners in the Iwokrama Forest
PRESS RELEASE
Georgetown, Guyana – March 4, 2025
Collaborative Enforcement Activities see Arrests of Illegal Miners in the Iwokrama Forest
Ongoing efforts of the Iwokrama International Centre together with support from the Government of
Guyana agencies to stem the illegal gold mining situation within the Protected Area has resulted in
further arrests.
A mission with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission along with Guyana Police Force and support
from Ministry of Natural Resources saw several persons being arrested on Republic Day, February 23,
2025. These illegal miners included a Brazilian national with family ties to a nearby community, who has
a long history of illegal incursions in the Iwokrama forest along with two other Guyanese – from the
Essequibo Coast and Paramakatoi Village.
Iwokrama, over the past years has been besieged by illegal gold mining in the Siparuni area and has sent
stern warnings that such intrusions will be forcefully dealt with. Several enforcement activities led by
Government of Guyana regulatory agencies have been undertaken to curb these illegal activities which
saw 14 persons were arrested in 2024.
Community leaders associated with Iwokrama have also strongly condemned resident community
persons’ involvement in illegal gold mining within Iwokrama and signed on to a joint communique in
October 2024.
Iwokrama and North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB):
- Strongly condemn these illegal operations in the Iwokrama Forest.
- Undertake to ensure that members of the communities understand that gold mining is illegal in the
Iwokrama Forest and that supplying these illegal operations with materials and supplies is also
illegal. - Work together on a comprehensive monitoring programme that will include communication and
reporting mechanisms amongst each other and report on any suspicious activities in and around
their communities and the Iwokrama Forest. - Are grateful for the Government of Guyana support in eradicating this major problem and will
continue to engage with and support the Government in their efforts to curb this activity. - Would like to remind the general public of the importance of the Iwokrama Forest to 1.) the livelihoods of the communities of Regions 8 and 9 and 2.) the national reputation of Guyana as a country known for its biodiversity conservation initiatives.
Photos: Illegal Mining and damage in the Iwokrama Forest
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The Centre would like to once again remind the Public that gold mining activities are absolutely not
allowed in the Iwokrama Forest. Furthermore, such illegal activities are a threat to the Centre’s
international certification and to Guyana’s forest management system as a whole and will be tolerated.
Iwokrama reserves the right to publish the names and photographs of persons found conducting illegal
gold mining activities on the Protected Area.
Iwokrama’s management acknowledges that collaboration is the most effective way to target such
illegal activities and are grateful for the continued support from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the
Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Guyana Police Force, the Protected Areas Commission and
the Environmental Protection Agency.
For further information on the management of the Iwokrama Forest and to report any illegal activities in
the forest, please contact Dr Raquel Thomas, Director, Resource Management on
rthomas@iwokrama.org. More information on the Centre’s work is available on www.iwokrama.org ,
www.iwokramariverlodge.com and www.iwokramacanopywalkway.com
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 March 4th, 2025.
