The government’s National Forest Restoration Initiative (NFRI) project is advancing rapidly, with some 2500 trees already planted.
The initiative aims to restore forests in the country’s overused, degraded, or deforested areas.
Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat acknowledged that while the project is costly, it is crucial for developing the forestry sector.
“It is a costly venture but it is a necessary venture. There are many mined-out areas, especially in the bauxite belt that we are currently working to do reclamation and reafforestation,” the minister stated.
Minister Bharrat made these remarks during the ministry’s mid-year press conference last Wednesday, at the Guyana Forestry Commission Complex in Kingston, Georgetown.
He noted that a pilot project is underway in Linden, where over 2,500 trees have already been planted across approximately 20 to 30 acres of land.
“That is a project that has already started and it will continue to expand into the bauxite mined-out areas. It is being replicated in other areas in Region Ten, Region One, Region Six, and Region Eight around the Mahdia township,” the natural resources minister explained.
Trees of native species such as kabukalli, soft wallaba, tauroniro, simarupa, baromalli, bloodwood, and awati, among others, are being planted in these areas.
The restoration and reafforestation project forms part of the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 which aims to foster a sustainable, low-carbon economy.
Earlier in the year, the ministry established two seedling stations to support the activity, one at the Yarrowkabra Training Centre along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, and another in Wismar, Linden.
A key component of this process is community involvement and capacity building.
Youths from West Watooka, Silvertown, and Half-Mile were trained in seedling collection, seedling station care and management, out-planting, as well as restoration site monitoring and management.
Meanwhile, Minister Bharrat highlighted that the government completed the National Forest Inventory last year, which will enable more efficient management of the forestry sector.
“This is something that will add to the way in which the forestry sector is managed and in the allocation of forestry concessions,” Minister Bharrat said.
He further stated that the Guyana Forestry Commission has been working with the European Union on a mangrove restoration and protection project, which has shown promising results.
The minister emphasised the critical importance of this project, particularly given Guyana’s vulnerable coastline and rising sea levels.