Guyana’s 1st rainforest research centre to enhance education, biodiversity conservation efforts

The Sophia Point Rainforest Research Centre situated at the confluence of the Essequibo, Mazaruni and Cuyuni Rivers aims to serve as a hub of research, education and training for stakeholders seeking to fight against climate change.
The centre is co-founded by United Kingdom (UK) parliamentarian David Lammy—who is of Guyanese heritage—and his wife, Nicola Green.
During the inauguration ceremony at the University of Guyana, Lammy on Tuesday explained how this solar-powered, environmentally conscious centre will work to protect and better understand Guyana’s rainforests.
“The centre will make the environment more accessible, providing a platform for students, academics and researchers to study this overlooked and undervalued country – a location metropolis with potential for terrestrial, freshwater and marine research but also a site to facilitate education beyond the biological sciences, to engage with local and Indigenous communities, music and arts and to tie into the existing vibrant and committed community of conservationists in Guyana, amplifying efforts already underway,” Lammy said.

He noted that Sophia Point will add to the forest research and conservation efforts already being done through the Iwokrama Research Centre and further facilitated by other key organisations.
“As the Government has rightly recognised in their Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, capacity must be built to deliver a sustainable future for Guyana’s rainforest and Sophia Point hopes to achieve that through collaboration, not competition,” Lammy said.
This, he added, can be done by working with the likes of the Protective Areas Commission, the Guyana Marine Conservation Society, the South Rupununi Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the surrounding Amerindian communities.

At its heart, Lammy noted, Sophia Point is about building Guyana’s capacity to tackle forest conservation.
“If you look around the globe, at comparable countries, you can see what the standard is. Costa Rica, a country four times smaller than Guyana, has 44 research centres. Panama, a country three times smaller than Guyana, has 12 interconnected sites just run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute alone,” Lammy said.
Once completed, the new facility will include a multi-purpose lecture theatre and lab space, internet access, basic lab equipment, and basic accommodation for up to 24 persons with free-standing washroom facilities, a kitchen and a dining space.
An expanded pontoon and jetty will facilitate the arrival of larger boats and operate as a site for sampling and water quality assessments while a canopy access platform aims to support canopy level and meteorological measurements.
As of July, the first phase of construction on the site of the research centre commenced, whereby the site was marked out and logistics for housing the 20 workers at Sophia Point for the next six months were initiated.