Protected Areas Commission in Guyana Moves into Schomburgk House
On April 29, 2014 Guyana Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and German Ambassador Stefan Schleuter inaugurated the fully renovated Building of the Protected Areas Commission in Georgetown. The event coincided with a visit of a German Delegation comprising representatives of BMZ, GIZ and KfW Development Bank. The latter has been funding the Guyana Protected Areas Project (GPAS) since 2006, with GFA Consulting Group assisting its implementation. A third phase has already been agreed by the Guyana and German governments.
The Guyana government indicated its special relationship with Germany by naming the new building Schomburgk House. Two Schomburgk brothers, Robert Hermann and Moritz Richard, from Freyburg on the Unstrut River explored then British Guiana between 1835 and 1844. In addition to the first inventory of the country’s substantial flora and fish species elaborated by the brothers, the national flower of Guyana (Victoria regia) was discovered during their expeditions. More importantly, Sir Robert Schomburgk surveyed the borders of Guyana with Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname on behalf of the British Empire and as a representative of Queen Victoria. The territory of Guyana today is very similar to Schomburgk’s findings and recommendations at the time. In honour of this historical conjuncture, GFA in cooperation with GPAS and the Guyana Heritage Foundation prepared a permanent exhibition on the Schomburgk brothers at the newly inaugurated building.
The GPAS project aims at establishing a system of protected areas in Guyana. Part of the activities was a small grants facility . The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency responsible for the implementation of GPAS, visited and consulted local communities in order to identify possible activities. All proposals were evaluated by a board composed of members of all groups involved. The implementation was carried out by the communities, local NGOs or private contractors.
The GFA team has been assisting this collaborative management approach, inter alia, by providing and maintaining basic infrastructure and equipment for protection, management and environmental communication. Borders of future Prtotected Areas were demarcated. GFA helped to establish management plans for these areas and supported ecologically sustainable land use in adjescent titled lands of Amerindians.
>> Website of German Embassy
