Revised National Forest Policy Statement 2018.

This Revised National Forest Policy Statement 2018 is a sectoral ocily document at national level. The Policy’s overall objective is: The conservation, protection, and utilization of the state’s forest, by ensuring it’s social, economic, and environmental attributes and benefits are sustained and enhanced for the benefit of current and future generations of Guyanese, whilst fulfilling Guyana’s commitments under international agreements and conventions.
Several principles have been considered while framing this policy. These include: 1. Balanced decision-making - decision-making processes should effectively integrate both longterm and short-term economic, environmental, social and equitable considerations; The precautionary principle - if there are threats of serious or irreversible loss of biodiversity, or serious or irreversible harm to habitats or ecosystems, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent such loss or harm; Inter-generational equity - the present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment is maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations; 4. Protection of the natural capital base; 5. Policy intervention to correct market failure; Local benefit - local people, particularly in indigenous and forest-dependent communities, should be provided with training and education relevant to job placement opportunities in the nation’s forest.
The Document promotes increased forest production in an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable manner. Specific Objective 2 is: Conserving, Protecting and Sustaining the Forest. This objective recognises that Guyana’s future is closely tied to its forests, and that the country benefits when the forests thrive. This objective outlines strategies to both avoid lasting damage to our forests ecosystems, and reverse existing negative impacts, with emphasis placed on maintaining the health of watersheds, aquatic systems, wildlife, biodiversity and culturally important sites.
Specific Objective 1 is: Deriving Economic Benefits from the Forest. This specific objective promotes modern forest-based enterprises, including those that go beyond traditional timber extraction, and covers a broad range of forest-based products and services. Under this specific objective, emphasis is placed on promoting sustainable livelihoods, both nationally and in forest dependent communities. The objective stresses the need for equitable benefit sharing not just among current stakeholders, but also between present and future generations
The Policy promotes the generation and application of knowledge, technology and capacity building for effective forest management in Guyana. Specific Objective 1 is Building Capacity for effective Forest Management. It requires research, training, application of learning, technological development, information management and education. The dissemination of this knowledge and information must be done using the appropriate language, communication tools and messages, and be tailored to different audiences, at their appropriate (kindergarten to post-graduate) levels of education.
To responding to climate change, the Policy proposes that Guyana will pursue appropriate bilateral and multilateral compensation mechanisms for ecosystem services (e.g. REDD+). Efforts will also focus on increasing national awareness about the role of forestsin climate change mitigation and adaptation. Emphasis will be placed on mitigating deforestation and forest degradation, protecting vulnerable forest types (e.g., savannah woodland, forested wetlands, etc.), managing the increasing threat of wildfires, and increased earnings from environmental services schemes. The Policy also calls for the development of a Disaster Management Plan to address impacts of climate change.
Regarding to governance, Specific Objective 3 is Governing the Forest. This objective emphasizes mechanisms for improved efficiency, efficacy, equity, transparency, financial prudence, and stakeholders’ participation in the management of our forests. Appropriate governance mechanisms shall be established at the local, regional, and national levels, and monitored for performance and continuous improvement.