1. Iwokrama International Centre
Iwokrama Centre for International Rain Forest Conservation and Development Guyana, South America
Iwokrama International Centre

2. IWOKRAMA’S MISSION STATEMENT:
“To promote the conservation and the sustainable and equitable use of tropical rain forests in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic, and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general, by undertaking research, training and the development and dissemination of technologies.“
Iwokrama International Centre

3. Iwokrama International Centre
About Iwokrama …….
Makushi (local tribe) word meaning “place of refuge”
A gift from Guyana to the International Community in 1989
Iwokrama International Centre was formed in 1996
1M acres (371,000 ha):
50% Wilderness Preserve (WP)
50% Sustainable Utilization Area (SUA)
Management of the area is under the direct control of the Chief Executive Officer who reports to the Iwokrama International Board of Trustees
Government of Guyana has representatives on the board
Iwokrama International Centre

4. An international effort…….
HRH Prince of Wales: Patron
Iwokrama International Centre

5. Iwokrama International Centre
GUYANA
IWOKRAMA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
IWOKRAMA RESERVE…..the Green Heart of Guyana
Iwokrama International Centre

6. Iwokrama International Centre
The Iwokrama Reserve
Iwokrama International Centre

7. Iwokrama International Centre
Core work programmes:
Conservation and use of forests and biodiversity
Business development
Sustainable timber
Sustainable tourism
Training and consultancy services
Intellectual property and services
Human resource development
Iwokrama International Centre

8. Iwokrama International Centre
Business Development
Timber
Tourism
Training Services
Intellectual Property and Services
Commercial Partners:
Tigerwood Guyana Inc - Timber
Community and Tourism Services Inc - Tourism
KfW - Training C
Iwokrama International Centre

9. Iwokrama River Lodge and Science Centre
Iwokrama International Centre

10. Iwokrama International Centre
Timber
SFM timber model which follows environmental, social and economic best practices
Innovative Governance models - Private Sector / Iwokrama /Communities
FSC Certification
No log export policy adopted
Iwokrama International Centre

11. Sustainable Ecotourism
Birding - Recently, Iwokrama was highly praised by an independent USAID report which said that “Iwokrama is one of the most, if not the single most important site for birding and nature tourism in Guyana”.
Canopy walkway
Turtle Mountain
Hiking
Caiman spotting
1,450 visitors in 2007 up
from 760 in 2006
Iwokrama International Centre

12. Iwokrama International Centre
Community Relations
Collaborative Management Agreements
Training / Capacity building programmes
Benefits sharing arrangements
Innovative governance models
Employment – 96 % of staff from local communities
Iwokrama International Centre

13. Iwokrama International Centre
Training Services
Full training facilities
Ranger training
Guide training,
Protected area management
Collaborative management.
Other specialized training courses
PDF Programmes
Iwokrama International Centre

14. Intellectual Property & Services
EU GSI project – IUCN
Environmental services
Merchandising and value adding
Iwokrama International Centre

15. Iwokrama International Centre
Ecosystem Services
Rainforests are giant global utilities providing water, pollination, soil erosion prevention, recreation etc – important to climate regulation and agriculture (food security) – important services to humanity.
Values have mostly not been recognised, valuation systems not perfected and markets not developed
ESS add value to existing forest values – timber, NTFP’s etc and reinforces the value of standing rainforests
More important to the developing world which have characteristics of high forest cover, low population and economic challenges thus putting immense pressure on these governments to monetize forest resources through the sale of traditional forest values such as timber often leading to forest degradation
Iwokrama International Centre

16. Iwokrama / Canopy Capital Deal
Partner: Canopy Capital of the UK
Launched at the world’s first Finance and Biodiversity Conference in New York on the 27th-28th March, 2008.
Not an emissions based arrangement as Iwokrama is already a protected area and would not qualify
Innovative agreement between private sector and NGO involved in sustainable development in an attempt to show that you can use a forest with out losing it through valuation creation using ESS
Two-staged process – a) identification and valuation of ESS b) commercialization and market development
Iwokrama International Centre

17. Basic tenets of the agreement
5 year agreement
Gives Canopy Capital a license to market ESS in the Iwokrama Forest over the period in order to explore sources of international funding
Provides payments to the Iwokrama Centre for this license
Contains adequate termination clauses to protect both parties
Centre has the right of veto for which types of ESS can be marketed
Does not include the transfer of rights or ownership to any part of the Iwokrama Forest
Contains clauses which ensure a fair share of benefits so that all parties including local communities get a fair share of the proceeds of any commercial earnings
All activities have to fall within the confines of the Iwokrama Act
Fits within the framework of the Guyana Government with whom we continue to work closely with in this regard
Iwokrama International Centre

18. Iwokrama as the testbed….
Iwokrama Forest Zoned into Sustainable Utilization Area (SUA) and Wilderness Preserve (WP)
Iwokrama Forest FSC certified – indicating operations which follow social, environmental and economic best practices, the only institution in the Guyana shield to have achieved this status
Iwokrama already involved in model development of timber tourism and training businesses including innovative governance models
Traditional forest resources mapped
Management plans / inventories developed for traditional resources
Monitoring protocols in place
History of research activities
Local communities involved in all facets of Iwokrama’s work
Iwokrama International Centre

19. Stage 1: Identification of ESS
Research into various ESS – water, pollination, soil erosion protection etc contained in the Iwokrama Forest.
Measuring services: water – rainfall attraction, water stored in the forest, run off into the rivers etc
Determining economic values of these services
Iwokrama International Centre

20. Stage 2: Commercialization
Fitting into any national framework / policy governing these services
Developing market mechanisms to ensure that resource / service providers / owners are compensated by beneficiaries of these services
Ensuring that forest peoples / local communities and other stakeholders share equitably in the benefits
Iwokrama International Centre

21. Iwokrama International Centre
Major challenges
Getting people / companies / countries to pay for “another” service in a declining world economy where resources are already over-committed to offset rising fuel prices, fight poverty, mitigate natural disasters, combat terrorism and deal with the effects of civil wars
Convincing owners of forest resources that over the short to medium terms ESS could be a viable alternative to revenues derived from extractive operations
Developing appropriate valuation models for services, some of which are intangible
Developing innovative financial models such as green bonds to help finance PES
Iwokrama International Centre

22. Iwokrama International Centre
Benefits
International – model of increasing the value of and revenues from standing forests thus leading to reduced deforestation and mitigating the effects of climate change and the development of innovative financial mechanisms to fund such efforts
National – Economic development for Guyana whilst still maintaining its 78 % (16M ha) forest cover, economic benefits for forest peoples / local communities
Iwokrama – provides direct economic benefits to the Centre to continue its important work in conservation and sustainable development
Iwokrama International Centre

23. To learn more about us…….
Visit our website
Visit the Iwokrama Forest
Contact me at:
Dane Gobin BSc MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Iwokrama international Centre
77 High Street, Kingston Georgetown
Tel:
Fax:
Iwokrama International Centre