The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development can help lead Guyana in the implementation of the Green State Development Strategy, distinguished conservationist Dr Kamal Bawa has said ‘Guyana’s intact rainforest, together with relatively low population density and commitment at the highest political level puts Guyana on course to developing such a “green” economy,’ he observed.
“This is very unique; I can’t recall that many places on earth where this is the case,” he stated.
Dr Bawa is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and the founder and President of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), one of Asia’s top-ranked environmental think tanks, based in Bangalore, India.
From May 30-31, Dr Bawa participated in the Guyana “Green Growth” SDG Lab in Guyana, which was put on by the Iwokrama International Centre, Biomimicry Roraima and the University of Massachusetts, Boston in association with the Department of Environment, Ministry of the Presidency. The Lab, a forum for open discussion, was designed to identify key challenges of transitioning Guyana to a green growth economy and discuss potential opportunities and generate ideas for moving forward in implementing the Framework of the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS). The Lab brought together representatives of the public and private sectors, indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations, civil society actors, international organizations and academia.
The outcomes of the SDG Lab will be shared with the government and will also be presented at the Ideas and Innovation Forum of the International Sustainability Science Conference in Stokholm, Sweden in August, 2017.
Dr Bawa sees the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development as being poised to help Guyana implement the Green State Development Strategy, which centres on the fact that conservation does not have to come at the expense of development.
The renowned conservationist believes that Iwokrama and the University of Guyana can forge a strong partnership to address knowledge gaps and to develop the human resource capacity that will be needed in the pursuit of the green state.