Guyana to benefit from regional REDD+ project

Guyana is one of four countries to benefit from a € 2.7 million Regional REDD+ Project supported by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) and the local government of French Guiana (Région Guyane).

The project’s overarching aim is to support the reduction of Greenhouse Gases (GhG) associated with deforestation and forest degradation through information sharing and strengthening the technical capacity of REDD+ focal points and forest service institutions in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the Brazilian State of Amapa. A technical platform will be established which is aimed to support estimation of land cover changes and forest carbon stocks; identifying deforestation and degradation drivers and modelling land use changes and socio-economic development.

At the first meeting of the project, held on August 8, 2013 in Paramaribo, Adviser to the President and Head of the Office of Climate Change, Shyam Nokta recognised the genesis of the project which was initiated out of a meeting by the then President of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo and the Ministers of Environment of France and Suriname at the United Nations Climate Conference in Poznan in December 2008.

Mr. Nokta provided an overview of Guyana’s REDD+ initiatives under the framework of the Low Carbon Development Strategy and with support from the Kingdom of Norway. He emphasised the critical role the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) System has played in Guyana’s REDD+ model in helping to determine with greater accuracy the extent of forest cover and drivers of deforestation and the important role a robust MRV System will play in future REDD+ Mechanism.

In lending support to the project, he outlined Guyana’s willingness to share experiences and lessons learnt while at the same time seeking support from the project to continue to build a REDD+ model. Guyana’s Office of Climate Change and the Guyana Forestry Commission are represented on the Project’s Steering Committee.

The Guiana Shield is one of the largest blocks of primary tropical forest worldwide as well as a region with very high biodiversity. Ninety percent covered with intact rainforest, it plays a critical role in mitigating climate change and in water regulation of Amazon and Orinoco basins. (Office of Climate Change)