Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2004

The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development is an autonomous non-profit research and development institution established by Guyana and the Commonwealth. It manages the 3,700 square kilometre Iwokrama Forest in Central Guyana. Recently the institution has been experiencing financial difficulties.
President Bharrat Jagdeo met the Board of Trustees and reiterated his Administration’s support for the project. Director General of Iwokrama Graham Watkins later said the meeting discussed several issues attracting Iwokrama as well as Government’s attention.
“We updated the President on progress with Iwokrama. We particularly discussed governance issues and talked about the Board…We talked about the funding situation and the need for international recognition of Iwokrama. We also talked about Government’s support and commitment to Iwokrama and the President reiterated his full support for Iwokrama,” Watkins said.
Government had registered concerns about the financial sustainability of Iwokrama and had urged the fostering of local partnerships for Iwokrama’s development.
According to the Director General, “We are now trying to get back on track and going in the right direction I think,” he said, adding that the aim is to establish that the rain forest can earn money through business development activities. This, he said, was discussed with the President.
The institution has planned several collaborative ventures with the Ministry of Tourism, the Guyana Forestry Commission and the private sector. Soon, Iwokrama will be exploring and promoting the potential of timber extraction. This would be done in collaboration with the Guyana Forestry Commission.
“So hopefully, towards the end of this year, we will be implementing timber harvesting and certification,” he said.
Iwokrama will also be working on training programmes, both locally and internationally. The first phase will see training of Caribbean nationals.
The Director General pointed out that Iwokrama will be seeking alternative ways of raising finances, including fund raising activities. The institution is also enhancing its public relations strategy, so that the public can be more aware of its programmes and impact. Another area of focus for Iwokrama the Director General said, is assistance to be given by the British Government
The Commonwealth recently gave Iwokrama a cash injection of US$320,000. This, the Direction General says, is a positive turn.
Last November Iwokrama commissioned its CAN$200,000 Canopy Walkway, the first of its kind in the Caribbean. It is anticipated that the walkway will prove a further tourist attraction.
The 371,000 hectares of prime land is home to approximately 800 species of birds, mammals and reptiles.