WHY IS GUYANA SPENDING BIG TO REPLANT PATCHES IN ITS FOREST?

Mining is the main driver of deforestation in Guyana. Last year, an estimated 6, 470 hectares of the country’s forest was cleared, most of it because of mining. The figure may seem insignificant when one considers that Guyana has 18 million hectares of standing forests and has maintained one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world. But even small clearings in the forest canopy is cause for concern. The Guyana Forestry Commission and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission have embarked on a project to reforest some 200,000 hectares of forest cleared over recent years for mining and other activities, such as agriculture and the building of roads. The News Room’s Neil Marks has been looking at the national reforestation initiative…