Release. The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development expresses hearty congratulations to President Irfaan Ali, the Government and people of Guyana on securing yet another first for Guyana. Earlier this month, an innovative carbon credit agreement with Hess Corporation was signed.
This week Guyana signed a legally binding trade agreement to promote sustainable trade of legal timber to the European Union (EU) – another significant achievement as Guyana is the first country from the Amazon Region to secure such an agreement. The agreement will give EU-based buyers assurance that timber products from Guyana are legal, while helping to improve forest governance, and promote trade in verified legal timber products nationally.
Through the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which is aligned with the expanded Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, Guyana’s forestry sector will see advances that will increase employment opportunities, promote sustainable development and support the livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities.
Iworkama highly commends the Guyana Forestry Commission for its strong leadership throughout the FLEGT VPA preparatory and negotiations process, and for engaging multiple partners to ensure all actors along the supply chain are on board.
Dane Gobin, CEO of Iwokrama notes “this is another major step for Guyana as it seeks to balance its oil and gas sector with conservation and wise use of its natural assets. Several forest operations in Guyana are already certified under various certification regimes including the 1,000,000 acre Iwokrama Forest which has been internationally certified since 2008. The Centre welcomes this added layer of third party validation that Guyana’s forests are managed in accordance with social, environmental and ecological best practices”.
The Iwokrama International Centre was pleased to participate in the national working groups and is committed to supporting the successful implementation of the FLEGT VPA.
