Tourism bodies get funding to help in fight against illegal trade in wildlife

The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) have received funding from the Latin American Trade Association (LATA) Foundation to create a Counter Wildlife Trafficking Communications Toolkit.

This communications project will be completed in one year’s time and aims at strengthening the knowledge of legal wildlife trade so locals and travellers in Guyana can better identify the signs of wild life trafficking and the process on how to report it to the relevant authority.

According to a joint statement, THAG and the GTA will be collaborating with the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission (GWCMC) to develop the toolkit which will help protect the “amazing” wildlife which is notably a vital part of our country and tourism product.

The GWCMC currently manages and regulates Guyana’s legal wildlife trade. The Commission holds the responsibility for securing the future of Guyana’s wildlife through effective, sustainable management and conservation, and is doing so through a regulated licensing process that manages the wildlife trade to ensure it remains sustainable, and a Monitoring and Compliance Division responsible for addressing instances of wildlife trafficking.

“Our wildlife helps to keep our pristine rainforest intact, helps our planet’s biodiversity systems to thrive, supports the livelihoods of our Indigenous Peoples by being a regulated food source, through tourism and conservation work, regulated wildlife management, and completes the circle of life,” Carla James, the Director of Guyana Tourism Authority, was quoted as saying.

Supporting the Director’s statement, the President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana, Mitra Rajkumar added, “Our wildlife is one of our greatest attractions in Guyana and one that we need to ensure we, as humans, do all that we can to help protect them.”

Alona Sankar, the Commissioner of Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission (GWCMC) noted that wildlife trafficking is a serious issue globally and that while there are regulations in place in Guyana to combat this violation, citizens and travellers need to play their part in identifying and reducing the amount of illegal wildlife trafficking instances that take place in the country.

Illicit wildlife trade and trafficking is estimated to be a multibillion-dollar business involving the unlawful harvest of and trade in live animals and plants or parts and products derived from them. Globally, it is traded as skins, leather goods or souvenirs; as food or traditional medicine; as pets, and in many other forms. And while many countries have regulations, they are limited and some are not strongly enforced due to capacity restraints and very often, very little of the trade is known to the locals. This therefore means that they are unable to identify instances of these illicit activities with a view to reporting them to the relevant authorities.