$192M project launched to push local value-added wood processing

…consortium to link producers, communities to opportunities

A $192 million pilot project that is intended to expand value added wood processing in Guyana, including with the use of less popular wood species and encourage more youths to get involved in the business side of wood work, has been launched.
On Monday, the Forest Value Creation Hubs project was launched at the residence of the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller. The project has a year and a half implementation period and will cost over $192 million. According to Miller, the project is intended to kickstart increased sustainable and innovative value-added wood production.
“The UK (United Kingdom) has worked in the forestry sector for decades. And I’m incredibly proud of the work that we have done in Guyana. And we see this as another step forward in our collaboration with Guyana Forestry Commission, but also communities, to be addressing an issue that has been (talked about) many times. How can communities really add value and improve value chains.”
“Its relatively small funding. And the success of this programme will not be just purely what comes out of the next 18 months with these individuals. It will be how they work with others and the idea is to stimulate innovation. And I think the way in which you communicate, the way in which you work with others, the way in which you use innovative social media, this will be the key thing for the success of the programme,” Miller also said.

A Guyanese consortium, with support from the UK’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (PACT), is implementing the project, which will connect local timber producers with domestic markets and international group certification.
There is a component of the project that will see training opportunities being offered to youths and students of the Bina Hill Institute in Region Nine. Scott Francisco, the founder of Canadian based non-profit Pilot Projects, which is leading the consortium, made it clear that the indigenous community and their woodworking techniques will be incorporated in the project.
“The fundamental here is collaboration. And you’ll see the word systemic… its not just collaboration in general. Its how do you work as a team, how do you bring the best skills and knowledge and practices, from different sectors and from Government, private sector, community and indigenous knowledge. How do you actually work as a team?”
“There are pressures, both local and global. So, finding ways to generate sustainable income, whilst conserving these forests, is really at the heart of this. So that communities and businesses and regional and international Governments can benefit from the forest as a standing forest, as well as invest in the livelihoods and health and wellbeing, knowledge, all of the things that communities want,” Francisco added.
Meanwhile Vanda Radzik, a Trustee of the Bina Hill Institute, assured that the indigenous communities they work with will all be granted free, informed and prior consent, as required by the Amerindian Act of 2006.
“For us, the selection of communities was done collectively, by the leadership. Because we have that built in. We also apply free prior consent to everything, even if its not extractive. Basically, timber is extractive. So, the communities were pre-selected. Right now, there are 21 (communities) in the North Rupununi.”
“We have currently, in the Rupununi, six communities that are directly being targeted. But as of yesterday, we’re actively looking together, how we can further include more communities especially those that might have deep forests. So, we’re looking at how we can stretch the budget to be more inclusive,” she also said.