Regional reps call for integration of Indigenous Peoples rights

Forest Law Enforcement

Regional representatives are calling for the rights of Indigenous Peoples to be integrated into the negotiations of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnerships Agreements (FLEGT VPA) between Guyana and European Union.

This call was made at the regional seminar held at the Pegasus Hotel, where representatives shared lessons on FLEGT VPA in support of the legal trade in timber.

In deliberating on the role of Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples during the VPA implementation, representatives indicated that while extensive engagements were carried out there is still a need for the active engagement of Indigenous groups in every stage of the deliberations while applying the principle of Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC).

The participants recognised that there was need for more discussions on this topic, and possibly channel non-VPA related issues to other relevant fora.

There was also major cross-cutting themes throughout the seminar, including the need to involve civil society in the decision-making process relating to FLEGT licensing; the need for continued financial support in moving from the negotiation stage to the implementation phase, and the need for Guyana to highlight its forest sustainability capacity and be proactive in securing timber export markets in preparation for its eventual FLEGT licensing.

There was also a general consensus that gaps in capacity necessary for implementation exist and some stakeholders identified the VPA annex on support measures as one mechanism through which these needs could potentially be addressed.

Guyana’s VPA process commenced in 2012 with the formation of a National Technical Working Group followed by consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and the subsequent development of a road map; four negotiations with the EU have since been held – in Guyana in 2012, 2015, and 2016 and in Brussels in 2013.

This seminar is the second such event to be held in Guyana — the first was in 2014. It was organised by the National Technical Working Group and the FLEGT Facilitation Support Office in collaboration with other partners (APA, EFI, FAO, Iwokrama and IUCN).

This seminar was convened to share experiences and lessons learned around the processes of VPA with the European Union under the auspices of the FLEGT Action Plan.

The FLEGT Action Plan was developed in response to the problem of illegal logging and trade in associated timber products.

Approximately 90 persons participated in the event, including Guyanese resource persons from Civil Society, the different scales of forest sector operators, the NGO community including Indigenous organisations, Academia and Government Agencies; and international participants from Suriname, Honduras, Guatemala, Liberia, Ghana and the EU.