9/22/2018
Indigenous communities develop protocol to address forest monitoring | Guyana Times
actions for Amerindian Communities to participate in
the Guyana VPA” and the process commenced in
November 2016.
The primary objective of the project was to enable
Amerindian villages in Guyana to design, develop and
test approaches to community-based independent
monitoring of legality compliance in timber supply
chains under the European Union Forest Law
FAO’s Country Representative, Reuben
Robertson
Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary
Partnership Agreement (EU-FLEGT VPA) initiative.
Following the consultation phase, the FPIC protocol was developed after it was
decided that Bethany Village in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) would be used
as the pilot village.
In presenting an overview of the project, Forest Policy O cer Michael McGarrell
said that the project was necessary since there was a problem. He identi ed the
problem as Amerindian communities still being unaware as it related to their land
rights. He added that they have also discovered that the legal titles only covered a
section or none of their traditional lands; hence, making it legal for outsiders to
derive bene ts from those lands.
FPIC Protocol
Bethany resident Roel Wilson, while presenting an
overview of the FPIC protocol said that it was
understandable that certain Government or Private
Sector projects may have good intentions behind
Forest Policy Officer Michael McGarrell
them, but without full consultation, such initiatives
could have unexpected negative impacts on the communities.
He said that they must be able to make their decisions freely – without any
external or internal pressure, intimidation or bribery.
“Consultations must be held and FPIC obtained from our village in relation to any
proposed activity, decision, project, legislation, policy and research that may affect
our rights, interests, lands, territories, resources and livelihoods. This includes
activities that may not take place directly on our lands, but that could have an
indirect impact on our village immediately or in the future. Roads and forest
concessions close to our land or mining concessions in the source of the rivers we
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