President Bharrat Jagdeo met with representatives of indigenous Non Governmental Organisations on May 8, to discuss Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which is scheduled to be launched this month - end.

Represented at the meeting were Jean La Rose and Lawrence Anselmo of the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), Peter Persaud of the Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG), Pamela Mendonca and Ashton Simon from the National Amerindian Development Fund (NADF); and Jocelyn Dow representing the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) as independent consultants on behalf of the Government of Norway. Also in attendance were Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai and Chairman of the National Climate Committee Shyam Nokta.

President Jagdeo outlined that the LCDS will provide the broad framework of Guyana’s response to climate change and will hinge, in particular on Guyana deploying its forests to mitigate global climate change.

He further indicated that the strategy builds on work done in the last year which culminated in the launch in December 2008 of Guyana’s Position on Avoided Deforestation which essentially serves as the model for the strategy’s development. President Jagdeo informed that several initiatives which are underway, such as the Readiness Planning Initiative with the World Bank will be subsumed within the LCDS.

In outlining the process, President Jagdeo informed the group that at the launch of the Strategy there will be a wide cross-section of stakeholders including representatives from indigenous and forest communities. In addition to the main strategy document, there will be a question and answer booklet to capture the essence of the strategy in layman language as well as to provide responses and clarification on a number of key issues.

The launch will be followed by country-wide awareness exercises using the media with radio and television presentations and discussions, and with a web-site dedicated to providing information. In addition, there will also be outreach programmes involving schools and also regional consultations in Regions 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10 as well as on the Essequibo Coast and in Berbice. These fora will allow for wide stakeholder involvement and participation and will also seek to target indigenous and forest communities in particular.

In responding to several questions regarding indigenous people’s participation in the LCDS and the issue of indigenous lands, President Jagdeo pointed out that the Avoided Deforestation model was developed utilizing State Forests only with the intent that following consultations and dialogue with indigenous communities, those communities can then make a decision if they would like to participate and in doing so commit their legally titled lands to be part of the LCDS. The President reiterated that many issues may come up during the consultations which will provide the opportunity for discussion on all aspects of the LCDS and its implementation.

President Jagdeo extended an invitation for the indigenous organsations to be part of the process and to participate at the launch of the LCDS and the various consultation fora that will follow. The meeting concluded with a general agreement by the NGOs of their involvement in the process. President Jagdeo indicated that meetings and interaction with him and his team will be a regular feature of the process.

Tags: NGO  Guyana  South America  energy  carbon