Community meetings underway on reduced emissions from forestry activities
Countrywide community meetings have begun under the consultancy for stakeholder participation on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and Readiness Activities in Guyana.
According to a press release yesterday from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Project (FCPF) in Guyana, beginning in early May, stakeholder engagements were held in Moruca, Region One; Mainstay, Region Two; Georgetown, Region Four and; Kwakwani, Region Ten. There will be further meetings in Bartica, Region Seven; Mahdia, Region Eight and; Lethem, Region Nine in the coming weeks.
The release said that stakeholders are drawn from indigenous and forest-dependent communities and representative groups such as the Amerindian People’s Association (APA), Indigenous Peoples’ Commission, National Toshaos Council and the National Steering Committee of Community Forestry Organisations. At the sessions, the release said that stakeholders are all involved in defining a REDD+ Communication Strategy and Action Plan for Guyana.
They are also helping to identify communication materials that would be used to better their understanding of REDD+ and Readiness Activities. These materials will be created in local indigenous languages, and are intended to prepare stakeholders for REDD+ implementation in Guyana.
Other stakeholders being consulted comprise local development partners, the private and public sectors, nongovernmental organisations, civil society and the media.
An international firm, Global CAD, has been contracted by the Ministry of Natural Resources to conduct the consultations under the FCPF Project.