FLEGT in Guyana

A 2009 agreement between Guyana and Norway on climate funding for forests, bound Guyana to start formal negotiations with the EU towards a VPA. The Guyana and Norway Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in November 2009, committing Norway to pay US$30 million in 2010 and up to a total of US$250 million by 2015 if Guyana preserves its forests. Under the agreement, Guyana is required to show “evidence of...entering a formal dialogue with the European Union with the intent of joining its...FLEGT processes towards a...VPA”.

Since then, the Guyanese government has requested to start talks with the EU. On behalf of the EU, the European Forest Institute (EFI) EU FLEGT Facility, which supports the implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan, travelled to the country in early 2010 to assess the situation. It is as yet unclear whether or when formal VPA talks will start. Linking FLEGT to REDD funding offers possibilities to Guyana to advance on contentious issues, including solving land rights disputes ongoing in the country. On 30 June 2010, the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) urged the government of Guyana and international agencies to resolve indigenous peoples' land rights issuesbefore continuing with projects aimed to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). For a VPA to be agreed, the government of Guyana would have to engage in dialogue with the APA and other indigenous and tribal communities to ensure that their rights are clarified and respected.

It is hoped that Norway and other REDD donors, will not provide funding to Guyana until land rights have been clarified and a process to improve forest governance has been defined.