FORM 5 GEOGRAPHY FORESTRY INDUSTRY IN GUYANA
RAW MATERIALS
-The forest is the most abundant natural resource in Guyana.
- It covers 80% of the land area. 65% is exploitable. Only 17% is accessible.
- Types of forests: dry evergreen, seasonal forests, evergreen forests.
-Types of trees: greenheart, purpleheart, wallaba. Mora, crabwood, balata
-Most logging and sawmilling occurs in the Bartica Triangle.
TECHNOLOGY USED
- Forestry in Guyana is done by selective cutting. Single high-value trees are cut and
extracted. Only tees of a certain diameter can be cut.
- There is no clear felling.
- Chainsaws are used to cut the trees. Mechanical skidders, winches, ropes and tractors are
also used to pull logs out of the forest.
- Bar codes are used to track the logs as well as keep track of the stump and exact location
of where the log came from.
TRANSPORT
- There is a shortage of roads, as such rivers provide transport. Boats, called pontoons, are
used to transport the logs down the Essequibo and Barama rivers. Sometimes, the logs are
floated downstream.
LABOUR SUPPLY
- Most of the labour is Guyanese. About 20 000 people are employed in the lumber
industry. More people are employed by several spin-off industries; such as making
shingles, furniture, houses, charcoal.
ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
- The forests in Guyana are owned by the government. The Guyana Forestry Commission
(GFC) manages about 9 million hectares of the forests. The Forest Act and the
Environmental Protection Act are two sets of laws which govern the State forests. Only
0.054 % of Guyana’s forests are being used.
- The government has opened up 40% of the forest for commercial exploitation.
- The GFC awards forestry concessions to individuals and private sector companies.
Overseas companies; from Malaysia, China and India also have concessions.
- There are about 300 small lumber companies and 3 large ones.
- The two largest companies are Demerara Timber Limited and Barama Company Limited.
MARKETS
- Main markets are Europe and North America.
- Plywood is marketed to the U.S.A.
- Since 2000, a new market is South East Asia as a Chinese and an Indian company have
obtained concessions.
- -Other Caribbean territories also buy their lumber.
BENEFITS
- The forestry industry accounts for:
- - 3% GDP
- - 5% of exports
- - $41.9 million value of forest products exports (2016)
- - Approximately 20,000 people, mainly in the rural and hinterland areas, are employed in
the sector.
CHALLENGES FACED
- There is a shortage of persons with managerial skills and other skilled labour.
- Diseases and pests. Trees may be sprayed with insecticides and pesticides.
- Globalisation has led to an increased demand for Guyanese timber and timber products.
As such agreements with foreign companies must be carefully monitored.
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY IN GUYANA
- The GFC ensures that trees of a certain diameter can be harvested.
- There is a limited number of cubic metres which can be harvested in each block. This is
an effective quota system.
- The Iwokrama Project in Guyana is a great example of sustainable forestry. Its full name
is the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development.
- It was formed in 1989 on 3 600km2 of forest by the Commonwealth Heads of
Government.
- It is used for research with the University of Guyana; they record the traditional use of
biological resources.
- Half of the area is a wilderness reserve and the other half is used to develop sustainable
forest management techniques.
