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TOURISM PERSONALITIES
Dr. Graham Watkins
Graham is a Guyanese-born British biologist who has spent most of his life working in tropical South America, mainly in Guyana and Ecuador. He was the Executive Director of the Charles Darwin Foundation in Galapagos from 2005 to 2009 and prior to that was the Director General of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development in Guyana. Graham holds a degree in Zoology from St. Catherine’s College, Oxford in the UK and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. His professional life includes more than 20 years of experience in ecological research, collaborative wildlife and fisheries management, and sustainable enterprise development in aquaculture, fisheries and tourism. Graham has worked in Guyana for more than ten years to ensure the conservation of the North Rupununi Wetlands – the subject of his newest book due out in October 2010, Rupununi, Rediscovering a Lost World, featuring photographs by Pete Oxford and Renee Bish.
PERSONAL
When did you develop a love of nature?
At the age of three, I left Guyana for Trinidad, where my mom was from. I went back and forth from Guyana and Trinidad but it was growing up in Trinidad, living next to a lake full of Spectacled Caiman and butterflies everywhere.
Can you describe a typical day from your childhood that involved being in nature?
We used to go to the island in the middle of the lake to see the green iguanas nesting. The lake was full of caiman and so the trip was exhilarating.
When did you begin working at the Iwokrama International Centre?
In 1996, I began working under a contract between the Iwokrama Project and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The contract was to survey the vertebrate fauna of the Iwokrama Forest and to help build capacity among local communities at the University of Guyana. I was then the Director General of Iwokrama from 2003-2004.
When did you work at the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galapagos?
I began working for the Charles Darwin Foundation in February 2005, and stayed there until December 2008.
Can you describe the work that you did there?
I was the Executive Director of the Foundation. As such, I was responsible for strategic and day-to-day management of the Foundation. This included developing and implementing strategic, business, and operational plans. In particular, I worked to improve relationships with local and national partners and to make the research work of the Foundation increasingly relevant to managing the extraordinary Galapagos National Park and Galapagos Marine Reserve.
What other countries have you visited, lived in, worked in?
I have worked extensively in Ecuador and Guyana in tourism, research, and resource management. I have also lived, for more than five years, in Wales and Trinidad, and have visited many countries with my favorite being Tanzania, home of Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
With your international experience, what brought you back to Guyana?
The Rupununi brought me back. The Rupununi is extraordinary in a global context. I have visited and worked in some of the world’s most special places and feel that the Rupununi is in the same league as the Galapagos, Serengeti and Ngorongoro. I also wanted to contribute to a place that has been very important for my own development and learning.
Do you have any scientific research going on or trips of interest planned?
I am just finishing a book on the northern Rupununi, which I have very much enjoyed. I am also hoping to visit Karasabai to photograph the Sun Parakeets and Shell Beach to photograph the nesting Sea Turtles, Flamingos, and Scarlet Ibis.
Can you describe the North Rupununi as briefly as possible?
The most striking feature of the northern Rupununi is the Takutu Basin – a geologically old rift valley that lies between the Kanuku Mountains and the Pakaraima Mountains. The area is very diverse and species-rich, especially for fish and bats, and is home to Jaguars, Giant River Otters, Giant Anteaters, Black Caiman, and Arapaima; it is also the homeland of the Makushi people in Guyana.
Why the North Rupununi? When did the fascination begin?
I first went to the Rupununi when I began working in the Iwokrama Forest in 1996. We used to visit the Rupununi communities to explain why we were surveying the forest and, of course, benefitted hugely from working with field experts like Daniel Allicock. The mix of the extraordinary wildlife and local people’s deep knowledge and understanding of the area is the key to my fascination with the place.
What is the global importance of the Rupununi? Can you briefly compare it to some other nature hotspots around the world?
Scientists have yet to explore fully the Rupununi. However, so far, we know that the Rupununi is globally important for two main reasons. The first reason is the high species richness of vertebrate groups including birds, bats, and fish; indeed, the Rupununi may be one of the most species-rich areas in the world for fish. The second reason is that the Rupununi maintains complete ecosystems with their large predators, such as jaguars, otters, and Black Caiman, and large herbivores such as Capybaras and Tapirs. There are fewer and fewer well-conserved, high-diversity areas in the world, placing the Rupununi in a very august group of locations including Serengeti National Park, Manu National Park, and Yasuni National Park. Another feature of the Rupununi is that it is relatively easy to see the larger animals – placing it on a par with the Pantanal as one of the better locations in the world to see animals like Jaguars, Anteaters, Giant Otters, and Tapirs.
What made you choose the Rupununi as the subject for your next book?
We had just finished a book on the Galapagos Islands – a well-known and very special place in the world – and decided that the Rupununi needed a book so that people could see and understand why the Rupununi is also very special.
Can you briefly describe the book?
The book describes the Rupununi in words and the photographs of Pete Oxford. The book explains the geology, diversity, history, culture, and economics of the area and carries a strong message that the Rupununi should not end up the same way as so many other of the world’s special places. If you want a taste of the book, which will be out in October 2010, then look at the web site www.rupununi.org.
What role would you like to see the Rupununi playing in the larger world?
Primarily, I think the Rupununi will become increasingly important for tourism and conservation. From a research perspective, the Rupununi offers opportunities to work in a healthy ecosystem on keystone species. I also think that the Rupununi can be important in helping us understand how complex ecosystems work and how they respond to climate change.
How has studying, researching, and photographing the North Rupununi affected your understanding of our natural world?
It has taught me how little I actually know! In my early days in the Rupununi, the diversity of fish and bats fascinated me – I was able to see species normally hidden away from people under water or in the night skies. Learning about Rupununi fish and bats was, literally, an “eye opener” because it opened up new worlds to study and understand. Later on, I have been trying to move beyond simply “seeing” animals like the Giant Anteater, Giant Otter, Arapaima, and Jaguars to trying to understand their behaviors, learning from the fishers and hunters of the Rupununi and from my own observation.
Do you prefer the rainy or dry season? Why?
I prefer both! In fact, the seasons are even more complex and watching how animals and plants respond to the changes is one of the most interesting features of the Rupununi. Migrations, feeding, courtship, and reproductive behavior are built around the seasons and the changes in the seasons. As such, travelling to the Rupununi at different times offers the opportunity to see many different aspects of the area.
Favorite place(s) in the Rupununi?
The road running through the Iwokrama Forest, though I wish there were fewer minibuses, and Karanambu, which is still the best place to see wildlife in Guyana.
Favorite aspects of the local Makushi culture?
Their friendliness and openness and their extraordinary knowledge about fish and wildlife.
What is the most underrated/overlooked place in the Rupununi?
I do not think there are “overlooked” or “underrated” places – just those that we have yet to explore. The Iwokrama Mountains are extraordinary because of species that appear as you climb in elevation; similarly, we have not fully explored the Pakaraima Mountain edges, Makarapan Mountain and the Kanuku Mountains. The Rewa River is slowly being explored and there are black water-flooded forest areas on the Essequibo River that need much more attention. One place of historical importance that could do with a little more attention is the old Pirara village and fort site – once the location from which Schomburgk undertook his expeditions and with an extraordinary view of Lake Amucu and the Pakaraima Mountains.
How do you see the future of development in the Rupununi?
If properly managed, Rupununi development could become a model for the world. However, this will require us to enhance small-scale tourism, agriculture and fisheries while mitigating the negative impacts of large-scale development of mining and agriculture. If we drive development in the Rupununi from the bottom up rather than by outside investors, there are excellent possibilities for a sustainable future.
NATURAL HISTORY / GUYANA TOURISM
What are some of your favorite flora and fauna in Guyana?
The Jaguar is my favorite animal in Guyana. However, I am still searching for decent photographs of the Golden Handed Tamarin and am always excited to see them.
What is your favorite area, or what are your favorite places, of Guyana?
Well . . . easy one – the Rupununi is my favorite place; though, when in Georgetown, I do enjoy the manatees in the botanical gardens and the Hoatzins and Howler Monkeys in Mahaica and Mahaicony and I hear that there are Horned Screamers (after which Mahaica and Mahaicony are named) in the Rupununi near Nappi – well worth a visit.
Speaking as a local Guyanese that has traveled the country extensively, what changes to Guyana’s tourism landscape stand out as the most significant?
I think the increased awareness of Guyana as a destination, including new web sites and an international presence in the press. This is the first step in improving market access for Guyana, followed by improvements in the delivery of the product.
Where in Guyana have you not yet been able to explore, but would love to?
The Pakaraima Mountains and the deep south of Guyana.
What are some of your favorite books about Guyana?
Robert Schomburgk’s Twelve Views in the Interior of Guiana; Charles Waterton’s Wanderings in South America; and Gerald Durrell’s Three Singles to Adventure.
Describe what it is like to fly above Guyana in a helicopter.
Flying provides a new and very different perspective on Guyana, including seeing features of rivers that are hard to observe from the ground. These features include the meeting of the waters in Apoteri where the black waters of the Essequibo mix with the white waters of the Rupununi; the sand bars of the Essequibo, which appear golden under the black waters; and how the winding of the Rupununi River forms oxbow lakes.
What is your vision for the future of tourism in Guyana?
We need to build tourism around communities and strongly tie it to sustaining local and national ecologies, social systems, and cultures. The key to doing this will be to brand tourism in Guyana as “community run and owned” and to secure the improvements in wildlife and fisheries management that are needed to ensure that the draw for tourism – the wildlife – is conserved.
Do you have any other comments to add?
Tourism is not a panacea and we need to manage its development. Tourism development has devastated communities and local ecologies in many places – especially where the driving force has been external investors interested only in economic benefits. It is important to consider how to provide incentives for “pro-poor” sustainable tourism and disincentives for “outside investor driven” mass tourism.
