Three-day consultation and training conclude at Nappi, Region #9
On Saturday, August 18, 2018, Conservation International Guyana, with support from the Ministry of Natural Resources, concluded a three-day and three-village consultation that began in Parshaou and Hiowa and ended in Nappi Village, North Rupununi. The exercise was aimed at developing a management plan for the recently constructed and handed over Nappi Reservoir. The reservoir, a Ministry of Natural Resources innovation was built to provide water during the extreme dry season in the Rupununi.
This initial phase involved in-depth engagements with residents of sister villages Nappi, Hiowa and Parshaou with the objective of establishing a consensus on how the water catchment area should be used while exploring challenges and opportunities that exist. The management plan will be completed within six months and will encompass – Knowledge and Information, Education and Awareness, Engagement and Roundtables, Training and Capacity Building, Sustainable Financing, Monitoring and Evaluation.
Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Raphael Trotman, MP who had given a previous undertaking to be present, shared that while the Government through the Ministry of Natural Resources had pioneered the project and will continue to provide support, the intention is not to give directives on how it should be managed since the residents are direct beneficiaries and they should be the ones to determine how the resource can be used to enhance their livelihoods. Many useful suggestions were proposed by the community leaders and residents for the use of the resource beyond providing fresh water for cattle and ruminants, such as agriculture, aquaculture, tourism and sport fishing.
A donation of footballs with nets was handed over to the community by Minister Trotman to build sports capacity and promote community cohesion.
The Nappi Reservoir was constructed in 2017 by the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Cataleya Energy Limited, in direct response to drought experienced in Rupununi in the previous year. It has the capacity to hold 4.5 Million Cubic Metres of water and is expected to be used as a model to construct future Reservoirs in Guyana.