Three Foreign Nationals Sentenced for Illegal Gold Mining in Iwokrama Protected Area

Ongoing efforts of the Iwokrama International Centre together with support from the Government of Guyana agencies, to stem the illegal gold mining situation within the Iwokrama Protected Area is continuing to bear fruit.

On December 10, 2025, an Enforcement mission with GGMC, Iwokrama Rangers and Guyana Police Force  saw the arrest two Brazilian and one Venezuelan Nationals.

CONVICTION – A win for Iwokrama

On April 16, 2026, after three months of court hearings and nine witnesses later, the three aforementioned foreign nationals changed their plea to Guilty and were fined under the GGMC Act and duly  sentenced to serve five months imprisonment each.

Iwokrama’s management is  grateful for the continued support of Ministry of Natural Resources, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Guyana Police Force, the Protected Areas Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency for their support in these enforcement operations. 

Iwokrama would like to especially thank the DPP, Ms Shalimar Hack and DPP Prosecutor, Ms Daniels, who was instrumental in ensuring success for this case.

DRAGGERS PRESENCE NEAR THE IWOKRAMA PROTECTED AREA

More recently, Management of Iwokrama has also noticed with grave concern the presence of “Draggers” (river dredges) in the area. In fact, one Dragger had to be removed by GGMC in February last, from an area that is special to Iwokrama , nearby communities and other tourism operators for charismatic aquatic wildlife. 

It is especially concerning that yet another suspected illegal dragger was seen being built at Kurupukari Landing since January 2026, which is not a designated Mining Landing.  Foreign nationals from Brazil without work permits were seen building the dragger and when told to stop by the GPF Immigration on February 2026. They subsequently moved to Chinie Landing, a designated Mining Landing and kept building the Dragger structure without work permits. It is very unclear the legality of the mining papers presented.

It is very concerning as well that there is also currently yet another ‘dragger’ under construction at Chinie Landing with foreign nationals who possess work permits who showed police a map of the area they plan to mine- further downstream Essequibo River (ie River Mining). 

The rivers bordering protected areas act as Buffer zones and a further one Kilometer in-land are designated buffer zone spaces.

Photo: Large Dragger that moved from Kurupukari Landing under construction at Chinie Landing  downstream from Iwokrama River Lodge.  Brazilian nationals with No work permits  (Photo taken April 16, 2026)

A REMINDER

The Centre would like to once again remind the public and other stakeholders that gold mining activities are absolutely PROHIBITED in the Iwokrama Forest and rivers the buffer the Protected Area.  The IWOKRAMA ACT 1996 is clear on the prohibition of illegal activities with provisions for such violations.

Furthermore, such illegal activities pose an imminent threat to our national ecological integrity, disrupts local livelihoods and traditional practices and undermines Guyana’s forestry and protected areas management systems. Such violations WILL NOT be tolerated. 

This illegal mining activity can affect Iwokrama’s International Certification and also by extension impacts the entire Protected Areas System and Guyana’s progressive Green agenda. 

Guyanese citizens using the Iwokrama 72 km stretch of the Georgetown – Lethem road passing through Iwokrama are also asked to use their monitoring eyes and report any suspicious activities to Dr Raquel Thomas, Director, Resource Management and Training,  Email: training@iwokrama.org or Iwokrama’s Whatsapp +592 639 3216.