…no direct impact presently detected
…timber production increases
With the Amazon rainforest in neighbouring Brazil burning at a record rate for several days, Guyana is taking precautionary measures to protect against any such occurrence in its dense forest.
Forest fires engulfing the Amazon rainforest
Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman on Thursday explained that while no direct impact has been identified as yet, concerns are still brewing that the causes of these fires could manifest in proximate territories.
“I think any Government, particularly Governments within the Amazonian region should be very concerned because whatever conditions would have led to those fires could occur here. We all should be concerned. We all should extend our support to the Government of Brazil to ensure that those fires are brought under control. At this point in time, we don’t see any direct impact. At present, we are quite alarmed and like everyone else, we wish the people there support,” said Trotman.
He stated that some areas undergo a natural cycle but the current climate emergency does increase trepidations. Guyana may be fortunate at this time to have an extended rainy or wet season that may cast a spell on such fires. Close monitoring is also done via satellite imaging.
“I know from time to time; we do have forest fires which are naturally occurring but the scale at which we see the fires in Brazil does lead us to be quite concerned. We may not be able to stop fires altogether. We are in an extended wet season so that may help us somewhat here in Guyana. We do our own degrees of monitoring. Thankfully, we have good satellite coverage of our forests under our arrangement with Norway so we’ll be able to spot if there is anything [that] causes concern”, Trotman added.
The Amazon rainforest produces about 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen and is oftentimes referred to as Earth’s “lungs”. A large fraction lies in northwestern Brazil while the smaller portion extends to border countries in the South American continent.
The World Wildlife Fund had once informed that if this area of plant resources is permanently damaged, it could start emitting carbon dioxide which will fuel climate change. Less than one month ago, Brazil had declared a state of emergency over rising fires in the same zone. The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has recorded more than 73,000 fires this year.
Forestry sector
Meanwhile, Minister Trotman revealed that Guyana’s timber and log production increased by a few percentages when compared to last year’s statistics, while some international demands saw declines. Primary lumber producers recorded a 32.4 per cent gain for the first half of this year.
“Timber production has increased by 7.8 per cent as against 2018. Log production grew by 6.8 per cent, which was driven by an extraction of lively greenheart logs to meet local demand. We have seen a weaker demand for round wood from international markets and this has resulted in this category contracting somewhat,” Minister Trotman informed.
Trotman assured that the deforestation rate here remains one of the lowest on the global stage, despite struggles with other resources.
“Even though there are challenges with bauxite, gold and other minerals, we’re still receiving high marks for the work we do…Forestry through its monitoring, reporting and verification systems has concluded on its assessment for the year 2018 that we are at a 0.052, which would be one of the lowest rates ever recorded and one of the rates globally and regionally,” he relayed.
It was announced that plans are underway for a national forestry inventory since the previous one was carried out some five decades ago.
“The [Guyana] Forestry Commission has also been engaged in conducting a national forest inventory. The last one was done 50 years ago…I think it is timely as we look in horror at what is happening in Brazil. We appreciate, even more, the value of our standing forest.”
