Largely untouched and undeveloped, the Guianas - Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana (Guyane) - are home to some of the world's most endangered animals and the last remaining tracts of pristine rainforest on the continent.The Guiana Shield Region of northern South America covers 2.5 million square kilometers of mountains, pristine forests, wetlands and savanna - approximately 13 percent of the entire South American continent. It was formed during the Precambrian era and is one of the most ancient landscapes in the world. The terms Guiana and Guayana are two universally accepted variants of an Amerindian word interpreted to mean "land of plenty water." This region contains the world's highest percentage of intact tropical rainforest, with some 80 to 90% still in pristine condition. An estimated 40% of the flowering plant species in the Guianas are found only here. Scientific explorations of the area are still discovering species new to science. Likewise, the freshwater systems of the Guianas, together with the Amazon River Basin, hold the greatest concentration of freshwater biodiversity in the world. The Guianas' coasts are also exceptional in their conservation importance. The mangrove forests of the Guianas are among the least degraded in the world. Millions of migratory birds from North America winter along the coasts here, while the beaches serve as nesting ground to four species of endangered marine turtles. The largest population of the Atlantic leatherback turtles in the world nests on the beaches of the Guianas. However, since the Guianas are rich in natural resources, such as gold, diamond, and timber, large-scale threats to the forests and freshwaters of the region exist. For example, the rapid expansion of small-scale goldmining in the Guianas, with increasing use of mercury is of growing concern, especially as global prices for gold experience historical highs. |
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 Several features distinguish Guyana's forests from other regions of the world. A primary distinction is that 80 percent of the country is forested and 75 percent of this remains relatively intact. This is one of the highest percentages of pristine tropical habitat for any country.
Guyana has some 1263 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 2.1% are endemic, meaning they exist in no other country, and 2.2% are threatened. Guyana is home to at least 6409 species of vascular plants. 2.3% of Guyana is protected under IUCN categories I-V. Inherently rich in natural resources, Guyana is traditionally dependent upon extraction industries like logging and mining. The cash economy within the indigenous communities is not well developed, and employment opportunities are limited and poverty is widespread. Consequently, the residents are inclined to trade in wildlife and fish to supplement their income. Guyana's national borders with neighboring countries are open and unmonitored. This allows easy access by other nationals into the country to illegally extract and/or trade in natural resources. To mitigate these threats and to protect the country's invaluable biodiversity, the government of Guyana has declared its commitment to the development of national protected areas. To date, five areas have been identified for protection, one of which is in the Southern Region where the Konashen Indigenous District is located. As Guyana develops its system of protected areas, Conservation International (CI) has been identified by the government as the lead agency in the process. Other organizations including the World Wildlife Fund, the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society and Flora and Fauna International are also participating in the process of developing protected areas in other priority sites. The Iwokrama Centre and the Kaieteur National Park Board have the responsibility for developing and overseeing the implementation of management plans for the Iwokrama Forest and the Kaieteur National Park respectively. To date only 2.3 percent of Guyana is protected, though Conservation International has secured some 300,000 hectares of forest in two "conservation concessions." Available data show that Guyana loses about 0.3 percent of its forest cover annually, one of the lowest rates in South America. Gold mining in Guyana made international headlines in August of 1995 when a mine run by Golden Star Resources (Denver, U.S.) and Cambior (Montreal, Canada) spilled four billion liters of cyanide-laced waste water into a tributary of the Essequibo, Guyana's largest river. Initially, mine operators tried to cover up the spill by burying fish carcasses, but eventually they reported the spill to the Guyanese government six days after the fact. Guyana Forest Data Forest Cover Total forest area: 15,104,000 ha % of land area: 76.7% Primary forest cover: 9,314,000 ha % of land area: 47.3% % total forest area: 61.7% Forest Classification Public: 66.3% Private: n/a Other: 33.7% Use Production: 34.9% Protection: n/a Conservation: 1% Social services: 2.4% Multiple purpose: n/a None or unknown: 61.7 Forest Area Breakdown Total area: 15,104,000 ha Primary: 9,314,000 ha Modified natural: 5,789,000 ha Carbon storage Above-ground biomass: 2,824 M t Below-ground biomass: 619 M t Number of native tree species: 1,182 Critically endangered: 1 Endangered: 3 Vulnerable: 18 Environmental Briefing from Mongabay Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) Américas Magazine article on LCDS New York Times Coverage (Article 1) (Article 2) Guyana/Norway Investment Suriname was ahead of the curve when it cordoned off what is now some of the world's largest tracts of unspoiled tropical forest.
In 1998, as proof of its commitment to environmentally-friendly development, the government set aside 10 percent of land – about the size of New Jersey – and created the Central Suriname Nature Reserve. Two years later, UNESCO named the reserve a World Heritage Site. It has remained pristine because the only people who live there are the ones who manage it. In total, Suriname has 12 nature reserves, approximately 14 percent of the land area, and four Multiple Use Management Areas with the goal to preserve the biodiversity. That's not unlike the rest of Suriname, which is thickly forested but thinly populated. Much of the countryside is unexplored – a major boon to conservationists. The "big game" of Amazonia – like the Giant River Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris), Giant Armadillo (Priodontes maximus) and the American Manatee (Trichechus manatus) – threatened elsewhere – are still abundant, because large parts of their habitat is still intact and undisturbed. The threatened Blue Poison Frog (Dendrobates azureus) can only be found in some of the forest islands in the Sipaliwini savanna in the south of Suriname and is one of the more than 100 IUCN threatened species that occur in Suriname. Frogs (Atelopus spa.) with fluorescent purple spots were among dozens of startling discoveries made during recent surveys of two plateaus south of the capital Paramaribo. Besides finding 24 potentially new species, scientists were the first in more than 50 years to see an armored catfish (Harttiella crassicauda) that was believed extinct. While the surveys only scratched the surface of what's hidden, they exposed just how much there is to lose in these unprotected sites. As in Guyana to the west and French Guiana to the east - not to mention goliath Brazil to the south - poorly regulated mining threatens harm to Suriname's unique ecosystems. Large scale timber concessions bought by the Chinese government are also raising alarms for conservation groups in the area. Suriname Forest Data Forest Cover Total forest area: 14,776,000 ha % of land area: 94.7% Primary forest cover: 14,214,000 ha % of land area: 91.1% % total forest area: 96.2% Forest Classification Public: 99.7% Private: 0.3% Other: n/a Use Production: 27.1% Protection: n/a Conservation: 12.8% Social services: n/a Multiple purpose: 3.3% None or unknown: 56.8 Forest Area Breakdown Total area: 14,776,000 ha Primary: 14,214,000 ha Modified natural: 550,000 ha Semi-natural: 5,000 ha Production plantation: 7,000 ha Production plantation: n/a Plantations Plantations, 2005: 7,000 ha Carbon storage Above-ground biomass: 8,016 M t Below-ground biomass: 3,367 M t Biodiversity Number of native tree species: 600 Critically endangered: 1 Endangered: 2 Vulnerable: 24 Wood removal (2005) Industrial roundwood: 200,000 m3 o.b. Wood fuel: 5,000 m3 o.b. Value of forest products (2005) Industrial roundwood: $15,000,000 Wood fuel: $60,000 Non-wood forest products (NWFPs): n/a Total Value: $15,060,000 Environmental Briefing from Mongabay The rain forests of French Guiana are still largely unexploited and sparsely populated. The majority of the population lives on the Atlantic coastal zone and is totally dependent on subsidies from France. The European Space Agency is responsible for more than 50 percent of the economic activity.
For the immediate future, the forests of French Guiana face relatively few threats, although timber extraction is increasing and a relatively high population growth rate of displaced Lao farmers and other local groups may pressure coastal forest regions with subsistence agriculture. Gold potential in the interior regions is attracting foreign development interest, and there are some concerns over a potential road project. In recent years sporadic outbreaks of civil disorder over independence have brought into question what would happen to forests should French Guiana become independent. Still, the country lost only 2.6 percent of its forest cover between 1990 and 2005, the lowest loss in South America. Average annual deforestation rates have actually declined by 17 percent since the close of the 1990s. Overall, more than 90 percent of French Guiana is forested, about 95 percent of which consists of primary forest. The country has some 1,064 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles, according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 1.1 percent are endemic and 1.9 percent are threatened. French Guiana is home to at least 5,625 species of vascular plants, of which 2.6 percent are endemic. At present, 15.4 percent of French Guiana is protected under IUCN categories I-V. French Guiana Forest Data Forest Cover Total forest area: 8,063,000 ha % of land area: 91.8% Primary forest cover: 7,701,000 ha % of land area: 87.7% % total forest area: 95.5% Primary or "Old-growth" forests Annual loss of primary forests: -12000 ha Annual deforestation rate: -0.2% Change in deforestation rate since '90s: -17.4% Primary forest loss since 1990: -60,000 ha Primary forest loss since 1990:-2.6% Forest Classification Public: 99.8% Private: 0.2% Other: 0% Use Production: 0% Protection: 0% Conservation: 4% Social services: 0% Multiple purpose: 31.5% None or unknown: 64.4 Forest Area Breakdown Total area: 8,063,000 ha Primary: 7,701,000 ha Modified natural: 361,000 ha Biodiversity Number of native tree species: 1,200 Critically endangered: 3 Endangered: 2 Vulnerable: 11 Wood removal (2005) Industrial roundwood: 70,000 m3 o.b. Value of forest products (2005) Industrial roundwood: $2,716,000 Non-wood forest products (NWFPs): $4,099,000 Total Value: $6,815,000 Environmental Briefing from Mongabay |
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