Natural Resources Ministry inks ‘green’ MOU with Conservation Int’l 

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DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, February 26, 2019   

The Ministry of Natural Resources on Tuesday inked a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Conservation International (CI) to ensure the continuance of Guyana’s green economic growth and development.

Speaking at the signing ceremony held at Cara Lodge, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman said the MOU is slated to provide relevant financial, administrative, institutional and technical assistance through a consultative process in programme development.

[In the photo, from left to right] Senior Technical Director of Conservation International Guyana, Curtis Bernard receiving the MOU from Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman.

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman.

“It is recognised by both Ministry of Natural Resources and CI that an ideal green economy is built on the principle of increasing well-being and social equity while reducing illogical scarcities and environmental risk, and it is only fitting that we collaborate to achieve these… This MOU will allow Guyana to meet international commitments. It will also help us to cultivate a culture focus on the conservation and management of Guyana’s resources. It will support policy development in legislative form and enable public dialogue on the extractive sector,” Minister Trotman explained.

The minister said the partnership will further enhance the interest of exploring, developing and sustaining the country’s patrimony. He noted that the ministry hopes to build relationships with other relevant organisations.

Senior Technical Director of Conservation International Guyana, Curtis Bernard noted that the partnership aims to ensure the country’s natural resources are explored responsibly thereby contributing to the country’s wealth.

“Our partnership will result in continued operations of the state-of-the-art MNRS systems and more recently work towards more responsible mining for Guyana through the El Dorado gold initiative,” he said.

The signing of this MOU completes a circle of environmentally-minded memoranda that is designed to strengthen and better define the relationship between the ministry and entities that promote safe, sustainable mining.

The ministry recently signed an MOU with the National Toshaos Council (NTC), the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Energy and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Neola Damon.

Images: Karime Peters.