Iwokrama Information

The Iwokrama Centre was established in 1996 to manage the forest area, following signature the year before of an international agreement between the Guyana Government and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Enshrined in an Act of the Guyana Parliament, the agreement gave the Centre the mandate to "promote the conservation and the sustainable and equitable use of tropical rainforests in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general". In short, the Centre has the task to test the proposition that conservation, environmental balance and sustainable economic activity are mutually reinforcing - that it is possible to use a forest without losing it. The rainforest is equally divided (for experimental purposes) into a wilderness preserve and a sustainable utilisation area. There have been for the last 12 years intensive baseline studies of the forest and the development of models for sustainable forest management in close co-operation with the local communities. The first 5 years of the Centre's closely supervised and scientifically based sustainable timber operation came to an end early in 2012 and the Centre is now exploring a second phase operation. Supervised by the IIC's CEO and his team under the strategic policy direction of the IIC's International Board of Trustees, Iwokrama conducts: Up to date scientific research into the impacts of climate change on the forest; Ground breaking steps to measure and evaluate the contribution which Iwokrama's natural services make to the forest's overall financial value; Four core self-supporting businesses - selective timber harvesting, eco-tourism, forest management training and the forest's services - putting into practice 12 years of intensive experience of conservation and sustainable forest management since the IIC's foundation; Innovative governance models of business development which include private sector and local community participation through shareholding agreements; A unique form of ...