-Pres. Ali lays out vision for small & medium operators
-by Jarryl Bryan
There are many stories of Guyana’s transformation over the 60 years of independence and one such story is how much Guyana’s forestry sector has grown, from the troubles the sector found itself in just a few years ago, to the resurgence of small and medium-scaled forestry operators and entrepreneurs.
Today, Guyana’s forestry industry comfortably walks the fine line between conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Guyana’s 85% forest cover is one of the highest forest cover percentages for any country on earth. But at the same time, the forest provides business opportunities for many industries, including downstream ones like furniture makers and prefabricated houses. It wasn’t always that way, however.
During a recent press conference, President Dr. Irfan Ali recalled a few years ago when many forest operators fell on hard times.
“The forestry sector couldn’t even pay their salaries anymore.When we came back, we had to pay months of outstanding salaries for the Guyana Forestry Commission. We had a meeting with all the small-scale foresters. And you know what the small-scale foresters and medium-scale foresters told us? Let us get back the large players. It’s a different industry now,” he said.
The small and medium-sized enterprises have returned, coaxed by a favorable investment climate and policies that encourage value-added production. President Ali says the focus must now be on these small and medium-scale operators partnering.
“We in the future can say that we want all our companies -this is why the Junior Stock Exchange and so will help us- that we want our medium-sized miners to come together in a consortium and benefit from the large-scale opportunity and say let us see how we can do our own mineral mapping from a national level so we know where our assets are and we can direct more of those opportunities to these consortiums and larger operators in Guyana,” he explained.
Guyana’s forest sector churns out logs, sawn wood, roundwood and greenheart, all highly sought after on the market. Last year, timber production almost reached 500,000 cubic meters.
Guyana also signed a voluntary partnership agreement with the European Union in 2022, continuing the country’s legacy of sustainable forest management.