EPA embarks on biodiversity project to tackle mercury use in mining

Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has embarked on a Biodiversity Mainstreaming Project “strengthening the enabling framework for biodiversity mainstreaming and mercury reduction in small-scale gold mining operations” which will be tackling the use of mercury in small scale gold mining operations within mining districts in Guyana.
This project is set to be carried out for a duration of 84 months, beginning in the mining districts of communities in Puruni, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Mahdia/Konawaru area; Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and is said to be funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to the tune of US$4.5 million.
This project, which saw the signing of a Letter of Agreement (LoA) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) by the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Finance in February, was officially launched on July 1. This cleared the way for the implementation of the project.

Environmental Officers within the Mining Division of the EPA Romario Hastings (left) and Colis Primo (centre) with programme moderator Ladonna Kissoon (right)

During the August edition of the EPA’s “The Environment Matters”, representatives of the EPA, Senior Environmental Officer within the Mining Division of the EPA Colis Primo and Environmental Officer within the Mining Division of the EPA Romario Hastings gave insights on what the project will entail and highlighted the different agencies that will be working along with the EPA in getting the best results out of the project.
These agencies are namely, UNDP, Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Amerindian Affairs Ministry, and Guyana Lands & Surveys Commission.
Primo explained that “the project is expected to look at the legal institutional frameworks that are existing in the partnering agencies and to build capacity in terms of the miners so that they can undertake much more environmentally-sound mining practices so as to protect global significant biodiversity to reduce mercury contamination and also to improve local livelihood and health of persons that may come into contact with mining/mining-related activities.”

Laws and guidelines
The roles of the agencies are to make sure the laws and guidelines of said agency that are set in place are followed and upheld by the miners within the regions identified for the implementation of the project. More so, making sure that their legal documentations are adhered to and that there is compliance on the part of the miners.
“We know that mining has a significant impact on, for example, forestry so we would expect the Guyana Forestry Commission would ensure that the code of practices for forestry are maintained; the laws for forestry are maintained and there is a good working relationship between the miners – in the area of project implementation – and the Guyana Forestry Commission. In the case of the GGMC, they will be responsible for ensuring that their aspects of the codes of practice for mining, and similarly their regulations are implemented and carried out by the miner,” Primo further explained.
Hastings further added that “the general idea behind this collaboration that you have between the different agencies, it’s quite important for the project… especially with the objectives that the project has, it must ensure that all of these are on board… when we’re speaking about mining, it involves other sectors as well and especially given that the intervention areas in the hinterland – this is where you have quite a challenge in monitoring, so we would – of course as an agency, we’re still trying to build capacity here and in so doing, we need the other stakeholders involved… because often you find there are multiple uses of these very areas of interests that are involved in mining. So, for the project, having them engaged is super important.”
The objective of the project is said to strengthen the regulatory framework and institutional capacity for the management of small-scale gold mining and to promote greater adoption of environmentally responsible mining techniques in Guyana in order to protect globally significant biodiversity, reduce mercury contamination, enhance local livelihoods and human health.
Additionally, the project also sets out to improve the environmental management of small-scale gold mining in Guyana which is known to be the major cause of deforestation and degradation in the country and contributes to the loss in biodiversity, land degradation and contamination.
From the implementation of the project objectives, some expected global impacts that will be achieved include the phasing out of 10.2 metric tonnes of mercury in project intervention areas, 1235 miners (10 per cent are women) are implementing environmentally responsible mining practices reducing mercury use, deforestation and safety and occupational threats, and increasing gold recovery and incomes, 8032 persons benefitted through awareness raising, training and reduced exposure to mercury, to name a few.
Mercury is said to not only have a negative impact on the environment, but it also has a negative effect on human health.
The successful implementation of this project is expected to give support to current projects that are being implemented by the Government of Guyana, Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund.