NOTES OF PRESENTATION BY THE HON. ROBERT M. PERSAUD, MBA, MP, MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR FORESTRY ON NEW GFC BILL

 The Bill merely seeks to repeal the GFC Act of 1979 and allow for an institution which can better ensure the sustainable development and utilisation of our forestry resources.

 Guyana’s forests are some of the best conserved in the region, as well as among tropical forested countries in general. 76 % of the total land area of Guyana is forested (166,377 km2 out of 214,970 km2). Of this, 135,800 km2 is classified as state forest under the jurisdiction of the Guyana Forestry Commission which was established in 1979.

 1. Historic overview of the management of the forestry sector

 Commercial forest utilization can be traced as far back at the initial days of Dutch settlement and colonization of Guyana. There was however, very little legal or governmental control over forest utilization until 1887. In that year, formal forestry commenced with the promulgation of the Crown Lands Ordinance No. 18/1887.

 That ordinance sought “to provide for the proper regulations of the Crown Lands, forests, rivers and creeks of the Colony”. Under the 1887 Ordinance, the Governor was empowered to issue wood-cutting licenses on behalf of the Crown with some guidelines. Additional regulations were implemented in 1890 and catered for the payment of royalty on forest produce extracted for trade.

 A revised version of the Crown Lands Ordinance (1903), provided the legal framework for forest administration up to 1953.

 The Crown lands Ordinance and Regulations placed the responsibility for administering the forests of the country on the Department of Mines, headed by a Commissioner. A Forestry branch of that department was established in April 1908. Forest management was boosted in 1910 with the appointment of a Forest Officer and five (5) rangers.

 In 1919, the Crown Lands Regulations were revised and were primarily designed to safeguard revenue. Very little emphasis was placed on controlling wood cutting operations, or to look at re-generation and conservation of forests.

 On October 29, 1925, the Forest Department of the then colony British Guiana was formally established. This entity was as a direct result of the 1923 British Empire Forestry Conference which identified as a high priority, the establishment of a Forest Department independent of the Lands and Mines Department in British Guiana.

 The Forestry Department embarked on a strategy for forest management that comprised of three (3) phases:

·        Phase of Exploration (inventory, mapping, volume estimations etc.0

·        Passing of Legislation (necessary for designating areas as forest reserves)

·        Phase of Forest management (concept of natural regeneration on a self sustaining basis)

From 1926 onwards, several forest inventories or forest valuation surveys were done over the accessible forest areas. Some legislation was passed providing for the protection of forests and forest products, and early work on silviculture, wood identification, market promotion, and natural regeneration of species began.

 On 27^th March 1939, the Forestry Department Headquarters was moved to its current Kingston site.

 Around 1950, it was recognized that there was need for radical changes within the forestry sector. Some major areas of immediate concern were lack of qualified staff and a re-organization of the Government’s forestry services.

 Forest Ordinance No. 15 of 1953 was passed by the Legislative Council in March 1953. With this and other legal enactments, the Forest Department ceased to be an advisory body and assumed executive powers. The Conservator of Forests now had effective control of the Forests.

 1954 marked the development of a ten (10) year plan for forestry using recommendations of a 1952 World Bank Mission.

 There was also realization that a properly constituted body had to manage the forest resources of Guyana. Accordingly, under the Forestry Act No. 2 of 1979, the Forest Department, a body that was in existence for fifty four (54) years and under various Ministries, was made into the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) in July 1979.

 The GFC was formally established in January 1980. From then onwards, the GFC, a public sector organization became the sole entity charged with the responsibility of administering and managing state owned forests. Its role became more autonomous and commercialized.

 At that time, the GFC started with three (3) functional sections namely :

·        The Forest Inventory Section

·        The Silviculture and Research Section

·        The Wood Utilization Section

 A new draft forest policy was developed in 1981 and by 1985.

 However it was soon recognized that the Forestry Sector was not contributing as it should to the national economy.

 By 1990, a major concern of the GFC was the inability to ensure sustainable harvesting and reduced illegal operations.

 2. Building an Effective GFC

 In 1992, the GFC (through the Government) became a member of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). There was a revision of policy, and the development of very specific objectives.

 During the period 1996-2000, the GFC pursued an aggressive Institutional Strengthening Program in an effort to make the organization more efficient, credible, respected and to increase its contribution to the GDP. This was facilitated by the GFC Support Project funded by DFID.

 The GFC was downsized during this period and reorganized into the Planning and Development Division, The Forest Monitoring Division, The Forest Resource Management Division, The Finance Division and the Human Resources and Administrative Division.

 It is pertinent to note that during the last decade several major changes occurred regionally and internationally. These changes in international and regional focus necessitated the creation of a dynamic entity to manage the forest resources of Guyana in a manner in keeping with the main focus areas established by the international community: sustainable forest management and environmental management.

 3. Importance of the Forestry Sector

 At the national level, Forests play an important role in the economic, social and environmental development of Guyana. The Government recognizes that we must manage our forest resources in a way that aids development locally especially since the forestry sector makes valuable contributions to the economic development of the country.

 Role of forestry sector in economic development

 1.     25,000 direct employment

2.     4% contribution to GDP from primary products

3.     $60 US million generated from export of all products in 2006

 

 4. Goal of revising the GFC Act

 The GFC Act 1979 is being revised in an attempt to create a dynamic, appropriate and modern act that will enable the GFC to better execute its mandate of promoting sustainable forestry management for social, environmental and economic benefits to all stakeholders.

 The new bill would provide an enabling environment for the GFC to better perform its functions as a regulatory agency.

 The GFC will be given an enhanced ability to monitor, develop and regulate forestry activities in keeping with new environmental best practices established for forestry management.

 The new legislation also allows for compliance with international policies which have been driven by the European Union (EU) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), specifically the voluntary partnership agreement through the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Regime (FLEGT) (EU) and the Global Forestry Trade Network (GFTN) (WWF).

Those agreements are important since they provide for the trade of forest products that are harvested legally and regulated by the local management authority. This could allow for the continued access of local wood in foreign markets strictly controlled in an attempt to reduce deforestation through illegal harvesting.

5. Elements of New GFC Bill

The new bill also recognizes and acknowledges the valuable role played by our local Amerindian communities in terms of forestry development and the forestry sector as a whole. 

Specifically the new law is seen as important since it allows for the realistic evaluation of our forests and forestry products which are recognized as great assets to the state. In keeping with this the GFC bill seeks to capture the value of the forest reflecting the true value of the resource. The new bill sets the framework for the GFC to undertake the required assessments that would allow for this.

 The act seeks to empower the GFC in keeping with international focus while allowing the GFC to play an active role in shaping the development of the local forestry sector.

 Basically the revised Guyana Forestry Commission Act sets the enabling mechanism for the sector to achieve greater economic, social and environmental development.

 The revised GFC Bill seeks to improve the transparency and accountability of the Commission through the deliberate insertions of Human resources procedures, rules for financial operations, Improved Constitution of the Commission (Board) etc. It also re-arranges certain sections and clauses giving the Act more coherence and structure.

 The revised Act proposes to give the authority to employ staff and consultants to the Commission as opposed to the Minister in the current Act and makes it an offence for employees of the GFC to disclose any privileged or confidential information.

 Penalties are imposed for several offences, not catered for in the current Act, such as disclosure of privileged information, and fines are substantially raised from G $500.00 to G $ 500,000/ G $ 1,000,000.00 for Individuals, and up to tenfold for a body corporate.

 In terms of the Constitution of the Commission (GFC Board of Directors), the revised Act gives more specific direction on the appointment of Board or Commission members, based on their technical and special capabilities. The current act leaves it up to the opinion of the Minister that these persons are qualified.

 The revised act also requires the Commission (Board) to hold a Special Business Meeting at least once a year where the financial statement of the commission would be discussed in detail, as well as other important issues. This is not a requirement of the current act.

 An entire new section on “Rules for Financial operations” has been inserted thus ensuring that the Commission improves its financial accountability and management.

 The new Act will also provide for greater use of entities such as the Forestry Training Centre which provides training to the sector in terms of Reduced Impact Logging; also the Forest Products Marketing Council (FPMC).

 The revised Act has a new section on the Establishment of a Human Resource Policy for the Commission. This policy is intended to address issues such as non-discrimination of persons based on race, gender etc.

 Clearly demonstrated is the fact that before us is a Bill which is intended to modernise the forestry sector and to ensure that it contributes to our economic development and at the same time meet international forestry practice standards.

 This Bill will be followed by a new Forest Bill which will be tabled in the National Assembly before the recess.

 The shared objective is to have a Commission with the necessary legislative mandate to carryout Sustainable forest management in an effective and transparent manner.   

 

Article 13 which deals with privileged information is really intended to deter  persons  who have access to confidential information of a Business nature from disclosure or unintended use of a company’s market information, investment, salaries information etc.

It is also intended to address certain categories of staff such as Worker’s representative on the GFC Board who may have access to confidential GFC Board (Commission) and other GFC discussions, especially if they are on-going issues.

 The reference to a “ gag order” is invalid, since Article 13 (2) clearly indicates the conditions whereby information can be disclosed.

 Article 16; It is not stated in this Article that the GFC is not obligated to inform the Minister of Finance on the amounts held in the reserve fund.

 However, it is spelt out that the Commission shall maintain a reserve fund and transfer into it from the net surplus for each year an amount not less than the amount fixed by the Minister and notified to the Commission.

 In addition, for financial accountability there is the yearly audit of the GFC accounts, and the Annual Business Meeting.

Reference to the Forests Act 2007: The Forests Act 2007 will be tabled shortly in Parliament. The comment that the Bill is in need of revision is not valid- the Consultation process was continuous since 1996- at no point was there a lull in the process. GFC held several meetings countrywide to advise stakeholders on the new issues that were addressed in the revised Bill, and there was approval of the revised Bill at the level of the GFC Board (Wide stakeholder representation), Cabinet Sub Committee on Natural Resources and at Cabinet itself.

 The reference to Forests Act 2007 in the GFC Bill is limited to the following:

 

• Page 4  : “forest” has the meaning given to it by section 2 of the Forests Act 2007

 

• Page 4: “forest produce” has the meaning given to it by section 2 of the Forests Act 2007

 

• Page 5: (i) to administer the Forests Act 2007…

 

These references in no alter any content of the GFC Bill- if there are any issues with the Forests Act, these will be addressed at the appropriate time in Parliament.