Iwokrama launches new publication, board game to inspire conservation

– Showcases creativity and talent among hinterland wildlife clubs

The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development (Iwokrama) together with its community partners, the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) and the ExxonMobil Foundation, has launched a new publication, “Conservation Canvases: Hand-Painted Banners from the North Rupununi Wildlife Club Festival”, and a forest-themed board game, ‘Wildlife Wonders’, at an event at Annai, North Rupununi in January 2025.
The idea originated from a very successful 2023 Wildlife Club Festival at Annai where each club created a banner for the “Parade of Banners” held during the opening ceremony.

In a press release, the Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) noted that the banners demonstrated exceptional talent and creativity, and to celebrate their significance, each club developed a story to accompany the banners, resulting in the creation of this unique publication.
The Wildlife Wonders game is similar to the traditional Snakes and Ladders but uses a forest theme and includes several key biodiversity species found in Guyana’s forests.
The intention of these conservation initiatives is to showcase the work of the youth from the communities of the North Rupununi and inspire a deep sense of conservation in these young people, which it is expected will imbue communities both in the hinterland and on the coast.
For more than 20 years wildlife club members have become leaders in several areas including village leadership, managers, researchers, tourism experts, rangers, and much more.
The Foundation funds several other projects in the North Rupununi that align with the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, including support for 17 wildlife clubs (approx. 400 children), forestry research, the Makushi Research Unit and Radio Paiwomak, the first community-owned radio station.

A coastal programme led by Environmental Management Consultants (EMC) Inc and the EMC Foundation, covers areas such as species conservation, sustainable livelihoods in tourism, ecosystem restoration and management and environmental education and awareness.
The Iwokrama International Centre was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama forest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest.
The IIC collaborates with the Government of Guyana, the Commonwealth and other international partners and donors to develop new approaches and forest management models to enable countries with rainforests to market their ecosystem services whilst carefully managing their resources through innovative and creative conservation practices.

In more recent years, the Centre has received support from corporate partners such as Exxon Mobil (Guyana) Limited who has funded the development of its Science Programme and continues to provide an annual contribution to the implementation of this Programme.
Iwokrama brings together 20 local communities (approximately 7,000 people) who are shareholders and participants in the IIC’s sustainable timber, tourism, research operations and forest management activities through complex co-management and benefit sharing arrangements, and scientists and researchers engaged in ground breaking research into the impacts of climate change on the forest and measuring the scope and value of its ecosystem services
It also brings a portfolio of sustainably managed and certified business models, using innovative governance systems, which include participation of the private and public sectors and the local communities, earning income from the forest and its natural assets, while employing international social, environmental and economic best practice.