In the News
Guyana and Norway Sign US$250 Million Agreement to Protect Guyana’s Forests
On November 9, the governments of Guyana and Norway signed a groundbreaking agreement that will provide up to US$250 million to help protect Guyana’s rainforests and mitigate climate change while developing a green economy as laid out in Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Norway will initially provide US$30 million for Guyana’s REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) development fund, and based on Guyana’s success with reducing emissions and tackling poverty, Norway will distribute the remaining funds over the next five years.
According to Conservation International, Guyana’s deal with Norway “marks the first time a nation with a history of conservation will be financially rewarded for its continuing efforts to mitigate climate change through protecting its forests.” Under the agreement, Guyana promises to ensure sustainable mining and forestry practices, maintain an open and transparent dialogue on climate change, and use the funds accountably and transparently.
After this deal was announced, Prince Charles of the UK praised President Jagdeo’s “incredible leadership” at a meeting of his Rainforest Fund in London. The meeting was held to discuss emergency funding to tackle tropical deforestation and resulted in an inter-governmental report produced by the Informal Working Group (IWG) of 35 countries.
The IWG report details a process that would reward rainforest countries for reducing deforestation rates and pursuing sustainable forms of economic development. The report has similarities to Guyana’s LCDS, which is the first national plan that seeks to combat climate change by preserving forests.
The IWG report, along with Guyana’s LCDS and the deal with Norway, will surely be receiving international attention as a new climate protocol is worked out at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. To learn more, visit www.lcds.gov.gy.
Tourism Professionals Say Travel in Guyana is a Rare Experience / Tim Appleton Leading Fam Trip in March 2010
From October 1-12, Guyana played host to an esteemed group of tourism professionals – tour operators, researchers, journalists, and conservationists – on a product familiarization trip spotlighting nature and cultural tourism activities. The participants all agreed that Guyana is on par with other top nature destinations.
Participants on the trip included Mike Braun of the Smithsonian Institution; Greg Butcher, Director of Birding Conservation for the National Audubon Society; Gerard Gorman, author and owner of Probirder; Chris Sharpe, Director of Birding Venezuela; Cindy Roder of Nature Team, a division of the Swiss tour operator Team Reisen AG; Cari Gray of Gray&Co.; photographer and videographer John Canning of Media Sherpa; and travel journalists Theresa Storm and Laurie Gough.
Highlights of the trip included several life birds for the participants and a confirmed sighting of the White Woodpecker – a new species for Guyana. Participants said Guyana is “easily compared in global environmental significance to the Galapagos or Ngorongoro Crater,” “astoundingly beautiful,” and has an “amazing abundance of animals, beautiful landscapes and delightful and friendly people”. For more detailed information on the fam trip, visit our press release page.
The next Guyana Sustainable Tourism Initiative familiarization trip will be held in March 2010 and will be led by naturalist and co-founder of the British Birdwatching Fair, Tim Appleton, a celebrity in the birding world.
Guyana Enjoying a Surge of Birding Tours
As we’ve been saying, interest in Guyana as a birdwatching destination has been steadily increasing and the long list of tour operators visiting in 2009 proves it. Some of the tour operators that have or will find themselves in Guyana this year include: Siemer & Hand, Naturetrek, SAGA Birding, Wildlife Worldwide, The Travelling Naturalist, Birdtreks, Mot Mot Travel, and Geographic Expeditions. In December, Chris Collins and Barry Walker of Manu Expeditions will also be co-leading a specialty species trip to Guyana for the Neotropical Bird Club (NBC).
New Tourism Developments in Guyana
Amidst news that Guyana was one of only four Caribbean countries that enjoyed an increase in airport arrivals in 2009, we have a lot of new tourism developments in Guyana to report. The hammock accommodations at the Atta Rainforest Lodge and Iwokrama Canopy Walkway were recently converted into eight beautiful rooms that provide a great new lodging option in the middle of the jungle.
At Surama village, the new cultural group recently released a CD of their music and the Surama Spa is offering massages with indigenous and local oils and materials. Nearby, a new tour at Fair View village in Iwokrama has gotten great feedback for the way it interprets the preparation of cassava, from ground to edible food.
In September, Guyana’s Ogle Airport was officially certified as an international facility and a contract was signed for the completion of the second phase of the new 4,000-foot runway. After the completion of the runway, the airport will be able to accept international flights from the region.
The Takatu River Bridge that links Guyana and Brazil via the towns of Lethem and Bon Fim was formally declared open by the Presidents of Guyana and Brazil. The US$4 million Brazil-funded bridge is expected to increase tourism arrivals into Guyana from Brazil, as well as provide Brazil with better access to the Atlantic coast and additional Caribbean trading partners.
Media Round-up
Erica Gies, a freelance environmental reporter from San Francisco, was back in Guyana to report on stories for Public Radio International's (PRI) "The World" program and the New York Times/International Herald Tribune (NYT/IHT). For "The World," Gies reported two stories. The first was on the opening of the Takatu River Bridge in Lethem and the development of the roadway linking Guyana and Brazil. The second was about the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and Guyana's role in the U.N. climate treaty talks. Her pieces for the NYT/IHT cover both LCDS and the UN climate treaty talks (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/global/08iht-rbogeco.html) and the deal between the Iwokrama International Centre and Canopy Capital (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/global/08iht-rbogguy1.html). Gies previously wrote a story on Guyana titled “Climate for Conservation,” for Américas magazine.
British international travel writer and broadcaster Michelle Jana Chan visited Guyana in early 2009 to film a feature for fast:track, BBC World News’s current affairs travel program. The show paints a picture of Guyana as a country making the most of its natural beauty to bring tourists. It originally aired in September and can be viewed by clicking the link.
Guyana has also been getting covered on the blogosphere. Yourtravelchoice.org, the blog for The International Ecotourism Society, featured a story on the Yupukari village Wildlife Club’s “From Wild to Web” project that won the 2009 ECOCLUB.com Ecotourism Award. Yupukari also recently won the “Best Wildlife Club” in the Guyana Tourism Authority’s annual awards.
Through the project, the Wildlife Club acquired a new laptop computer, two digital cameras, two digital recorders, and a computer backpack. The project has already made strides in enhancing the capacity of village youth to participate in the developing national and international conversation about the future of threatened Rupununi lands and waters through projects funded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The digital documentation and online publishing training and field monitoring activities using the equipment have been underway since September 2009, and will continue on an on-going basis. To learn more and watch two videos of the Wildlife Club, visit www.ecoclub.com/awards2009-f.h and http://rupununilearners.com/biological_research/ecoclub.htm.
Two of the October fam participants also blogged about their trips. Gerard Gorman wrote about his experience on two blogs: http://wildlifeandbirdingdestinations.blogspot.com/ and http://gerardgorman.blogspot.com/. Greg Butcher wrote several postings from Guyana on the Audubon Magazine blog: http://magblog.audubon.org/blogger/greg-butcher.
National Geographic News reported about a lungless “worm” that was found living on land in Guyana. The creature that can survive on land with no nostrils, lungs, or legs is part of a group of amphibians known as caecilians. This animal – named Caecilita iwokramae – is one of only two known lungless caecilians. To read more about the 4.4-inch creature that breathes through its skin, visit http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091118-lungs-amphibian-worm-caecilian.html.
And in television news, our friends at Birding Adventures have been having tremendous success with their show. Their market continues to expand as more networks pick them up, and Guyana is proud to have been their first destination. If you missed the recent re-airs of the Guyana shows that feature the Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, Harpy Eagle, and Sun Parakeets, then be sure to catch them online: http://www.birdingadventures.com/batv_destgroup.php?id_del=4.
Finally, we’re a bit late in reporting it, but it just came to our attention that the January 2009 issue of Wildlife magazine, the membership magazine for the Sussex Wildlife Trust in England, featured an article on Guyana: "Defending the Indefensible". Mike Russel, the People and Wildlife Manager for the Trust, wrote the article after visiting Guyana in April 2008 on a familiarization trip. The article, along with many more, can be downloaded at our Guyana in the News page.
Guyana Enjoys Another Successful Year at the British Birdwatching Fair
Interest and hype surrounding Guyana remained high at the 2009 British Birdwatching Fair (Birdfair), which reported record attendance this year with 22,800 visitors over three days. Journalists, tour operators, film producers, and conservation and educational organizations all stopped by the Guyana stand for more detailed information on the country. Several hundred consumers also browsed the booth in search of guidance for possible trips or visits that are planned for the near future.
Representatives from the Guyana Sustainable Tourism Initiative, the tour operator Wilderness Explorers, and the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development manned the Guyana booth. Also at Birdfair was Greenheart Trust, an organization that works with grassroots conservation organizations in Guyana. At their busy stand were representatives from Yupukari Village’s Rupununi Learners as well as the South Rupununi Conservation Society and the tour company Rupununi Trails, which are both based at Guyana’s Dadanawa Ranch.
At Birdfair, more than 15 of the world’s top birdwatching-focused tour operators were selling trips to Guyana and many reported receiving so many inquiries about Guyana that they were running low on Guyana itineraries. The Neotropical Bird Club’s Chris Collins (who has been a strong supporter of Guyana and is returning with a group of birders this month) and Managing Director of Wilderness Explorers, Tony Thorne, also gave a well-attended presentation titled, “Birding and Conservation in the Amazing Rainforests of Guyana.”
Capacity Crowds Attend Guyanese Summer Evening 2009
At the Guyanese Summer Evening event in London, a capacity crowd of about 150 tour operators, media representatives, dignitaries, and tourism industry delegates enjoyed a night of Guyanese hospitality. This year’s feature presenters were Diane McTurk, who spoke about her work rehabilitating orphaned Giant River Otters into the wild at Karanambu Ranch, and author John Gimlette, who talked about his off-the-beaten-path travels in Guyana.
Other speakers included Edward Glover, Chairman of the Iwokrama Board of Trustees, who introduced a video featuring Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development; the Honorable Laleshwar K.N. Singh, Guyanese High Commissioner to the UK; Tony Thorne of Wilderness Explorers; Director of the Guyana Sustainable Tourism Initiative, Judy Karwacki; and Paul Waldron, also of Iwokrama. Bradt Travel Guides were also on hand to sell copies of their Guyana guidebook.
Guyana Attends the Adventure Travel World Summit and Partners with ATTA
Representatives from the Guyana Sustainable Tourism Initiative (GSTI) and the Guyana-based tour operator, Wilderness Explorers, recently attended the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) in Quebec, Canada.
At the ATWS, which is sponsored by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), the team promoted Guyana as an adventure and nature tourism destination and made important industry connections with the more than 500 international tour operators and media in attendance. Judy Karwacki of Small Planet Consulting and Director of the GSTI also led several roundtable discussions about sustainable and indigenous tourism, highlighting the work being done in Guyana as case examples.
The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) has been a member of the ATTA for several years and recently Guyana joined the association as a destination member (http://www.adventuretravelnews.com/guyana-sustainable-tourism-initiative).
Pick of the Flock
In our newsletters and on our website we mainly cover the more accessible areas of Guyana, but in doing so we only begin to tap into the expansiveness of Guyana’s remote wilderness. For this Pick of the Flock, we’re highlighting two recent expeditions that pushed the boundaries of normal travel and scientific research in Guyana. If these stories inspire the dormant explorer in you, we suggest you contact Duane de Freitas, Ashley Holland, or Ian Craddock and ask them to take you to the parts of Guyana that have truly only ever been visited by a handful of Westerners.
Mongabay.com recently ran an excellent story and interview with Robert Pickles about an expedition to, and biodiversity survey of, the Rewa River Head. Pickles, a PhD student at the University of Kent and the Zoological Society of London, is studying the genetics of the giant river otter. Upon hearing of healthy populations in Guyana, he enlisted local guides, including Ashley Holland, to take him and tapir expert Niall McCann to the Rewa Head.
During the interview with Mongabay.com, Pickles said, “Visiting the Rewa Head felt like we were walking in the footsteps of Wallace and Bates, seeing South America with its natural density of wild animals as it would have appeared 150 years ago.” The team captured puma, ocelot, and giant anteater with their camera traps, floated next to fearless giant river otters and tapir, and captured anacondas in excess of 18ft long. We strongly encourage you to read the article. The piece includes some wonderful photographs, but it also touches on the sobering fact that oil and logging interests are placing this pristine place under threat. By reading the article and spreading the word, hopefully these threats can be mitigated.
Another expedition we’d like to point out is the historic first descent of the Potarto River from source to mouth. UK explorer Charles Montier, and local guides Danny Daniels and Rupert Williams, completed the amazing feat on April 1, 2009. As the Potaro River is the source of Kaieteur Falls, the difficult trip involved a lot of portaging and very difficult trekking. Visit ExplorationGuyana.com to read Charles’ blog and watch a short video that captures some of what the team saw and went through during the descent (the video includes excellent footage of giant river otters and red howler monkeys).
