Tree planting exercise held to commemorate Int’l Day of Forests 2023
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh participated in a tree planting exercise, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal on Tuesday.
The ministers were joined by members of the Guyana Forestry Commission and the diplomatic corps.
The exercise followed a ceremony held in observance of International Day of Forests 2023, where both ministers underscored the need for more global afforestation, reforestation and forest conservation efforts.
Minister Bharrat expressed pride at Guyana being able to celebrate the day, as the government has implemented a number of policies and measures aimed at conserving Guyana’s forests and natural resources.
“Indeed, Guyana is a blessed country. When we think of our resources, our natural resources especially, we have probably the best resources in the world…. Our forests, our gold, our bauxite, almost every natural resource we have in our country is ranked among the best in the world,” Minister Bharrat said.
Meanwhile, Minister Singh stressed the importance of forests as it pertains to climate protection, reminding that they play a key role in mitigating the effects of global warming.
“The global science demonstrates beyond any credible shred of doubt that there is no solution to climate change without action on forests. That is a reality we cannot escape from,” Dr Singh expressed.
Organisations operating within the forestry sector, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Guyana Forestry Commission, and Conservation International Guyana, took the opportunity to display their products and services.
The government, since entering office in 2020, has implemented a number of initiatives with focus on preserving the country’s forestry sector. These include the launch of a Seedling Restoration Station at the Yarrowkabra Forestry Training Centre, Linden Soesdyke-Linden Highway, to aid in reforestation efforts, training and educating members of the Youth in Natural Resources (YNR) programmes annually on measures to conserve the forest and biodiversity, and most recently, the launching of the $900 million Revolving Fund to boost the forestry sector.
