Tropical Forest Foundation -- Reduced Impact Logging (South America (Guyana))


About - History - Leadership - Board of Directors RIL - TFF Standard for Reduced Impact Logging - Cost/Benefits Study - South America - Asia - Africa Mahogany Contributors - Corporate Sponsors - Partners Support TFF - Contributor's App. TFF Newsletters TFF Species Bulletins Press Releases/News/ Documents of Interest CITES Tomorrow's Forests Industry Can Help Consider This Links Contact Established in 1990, The Tropical Forest Foundation's Mission Statement is: TFF's primary mission is to promote sustainable tropical forest management by gathering and disseminating information about its benefits and by demonstrating and teaching proper management practices.		Tropical Forest Foundation Makes Inroads to Guyana Longtime plans to improve forest management in Guyana may soon become reality. The Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF) is developing a training program that will teach it's Low-Impact Logging (LIL) techniques to Guyanese forest managers with support from USAID and ITTO. Together with the Guyana Forestry Commission and the Tropenbos Foundation, the Iwokrama Center for Rain Forest Conservation and Development plans to establish models for continued demonstration and research on forest management (FM) and low-impact logging. However, program planners have recognized that the project cannot be implemented without trained personnel. Lack of trained practitioners, in fact, is one of the greatest barriers to adoption of FM-LIL and TFF is in the position to address this critical human resource need. TFF Executive Director Keister Evans delivered the keynote address to a Georgetown, Guyana workshop for timber executives, government officials and conservation leaders in late April. Iwokrama, the Tropenbos-Guyana Programme, and the Guyana Forestry Commission co-hosted the gathering, which brought together authorities in the field to discuss ways of better utilizing Guyana's vast resources in a sustainable way. Johan Zweede, TFF's Project Director in Brazil, was a principal speaker and discussion leader. During the workshop, one working session to develop training strategies was devoted to planning the training program for Guyana. At a meeting on April 28, participants agreed on several key points: Any training process must begin by convincing timber-company CEOs that implementing LIL techniques and practices is in their best economic interest. TFF will furnish positive cost/benefits data for this purpose. A working committee, including officials from Iwokrama, Tropenbos, the Guyana Forestry Commission, Guyana Forest Products Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Edinburgh Centre for Tropical Forests (which works with the Barama Timber Company) will help oversee and implement the program That committee will recommend candidates for training in Brazil. The committee will also designate a coordinator who will facilitate this training by interfacing with the TFF Program in Brazil (Fundacao Floresta Tropical). About 12-14 trainees are expected to comprise the inaugural group. Anyone receiving training will first receive a tour and briefing of Guyanese forest practices to help them prepare for the course. S.K. Loong of the Barama Timber Co. Offered to help in this regard by arranging a tour of his company's logging operations. The training will take place at TFF's main training site in Brazil's Para state. A special English-language course will be set up to accommodate course participants. Located at the northeastern tip of South America, Guyana is dwarfed by its southern neighbor, Brazil, but nevertheless represents a major opportunity for loggers and conservationists alike. With only 83,000 square miles and with a population of fewer than 800,000, the country is home to vast untapped resources. More than 94 percent is forested, compared with about 59 percent for the rest of South America and a worldwide average of 26 percent (according to the FAO). It is also the only South American country with English as its primary language. The centerpiece of Guyana's sustainability efforts is the Iwokrama rainforest in the south-central part of the country. Comprising 360,000ha, Iwokrama was donated by the government to serve as a model for sustainable forestry and conservation research. The new program will build on this by training managers how to use such techniques in the rest of the country, where inventories are undocumented and industry remains largely unregulated. Timber harvest in Guyana is still an infant industry, albeit one that's tripled in size this decade alone. Exports are growing at a robust rate, with Greenheart comprising the largest share. Although the government is committed to development, it has also ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity but has been hindered by a stubbornly under-performing economy and a tiny population clustered along the coast. If successful, the project would represent a milestone for TFF's efforts to expand its programs in Brazil to bordering tropical countries with similar resources. For further information please contact Keister Evans, Executive Director at tff@igc.org.