Guyana signs MoU with int’l body to build world-class protected area system

The Protected Areas Commission (PAC), on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with international conservation organisation Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) to aid in strengthening the management of the Kanuku Mountains Protected Area (KMPA).

This agreement, which covers a five-year period, will see the expansion of FZS’s cooperation in Guyana within the context of the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030.
It will allow FZS to establish and operate a country office in Guyana, support the expansion of the National Protected Area System (NPAS) and continue its collaboration with the PAC for strengthened management of KMPA and NPAS.
Additionally, this MoU permits FZS to foster Indigenous community engagement and development, and also support Guyana to advance participation in key global biodiversity and climate-related initiatives.
Foreign Secretary and PAC Board Chairman Robert Persaud stated that the MoU was to allow the Protected Areas Commission to develop the capacity, whereby it can leverage more financial support in managing the country’s existing protected area system, particularly the KMPA.
“Because we have plans… our target of 30 per cent of our marine as well as land space to be considered protected areas, we also would need some capacity building in this regard, and partnering with FZS allows us to develop that partnership to get that type of support… to build up our ability to properly manage our Protected Area System,” Persaud added.
He also noted that more than 30 per cent of the country’s total carbon credit assets would generate a total of US$750 million which will bring tremendous benefits to the people of Guyana.
“Today, we’re not only known as the newest oil producer but also as one of the newest countries… perhaps one of the first being able to deploy its jurisdictional carbon credits and earn money for the development of our country,” he noted.
Dr Antje Müllner, Head of the South America and Southeast Asia Department at FZS, shared that one of its main guiding principles is a long-term approach and commitment to conservation, through strong partnerships with national and community-based institutions. She stated that an important factor was the coordinated approach of several institutions and the relevant local stakeholders to tackle the threats to biodiversity.
In 2014, FZS began its cooperation with the Government of Guyana, through the PAC. Since then, FZS has been instrumental in supporting the operationalisation of the newly-established Commission in the areas of system-wide strategic planning, capacity development, and improved management of the KMPA.
The FZS had signed its first MoU with Guyana in 2015, to provide Guyana with financial and technical support for the development of the country’s protected area system. The team was tasked with lending support to establish administrative and monitoring systems for the Kanuku Mountains among other responsibilities.
The FZS was founded in 1858 and has been supporting conservation projects in Africa, Central and South America, Southeast Asia and Europe for many decades, in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental partner organisations.
In South America the FZS concentrates mainly on the Amazon basin and adjacent areas following its mission to conserve wildlife and ecosystems focusing on protected areas and outstanding wilderness places.