The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development presented its work in forest conservation, sustainable management and community development to its patron, King Charles III, during the Global Biodiversity Alliance exhibition in Georgetown on October 30.
In a release issued on Tuesday, the centre said the engagement took place at the Second Global Biodiversity Alliance Conference and Financing Forum, which brought together organisations and partners to explore conservation financing and cooperation.
Iwokrama was represented by Chief Executive Officer Dane Gobin; Director of Resource Management and Training Dr Raquel Thomas; Special Projects Consultant Anne-Marie Ford; Assistant Forestry Manager Michael De Mendonca; and Acting Head Ranger Rebecca Xavier.
According to the centre, the King praised Guyana’s forest conservation efforts, including the Low Carbon Development Strategy, and emphasised the importance of recognising nature’s value.
His association with Iwokrama dates to February 2000, when, as Prince of Wales, he visited its rainforest. He accepted patronage of the centre that year and renewed it in 2024 following a brief interruption after his accession to the throne, the release said.
Iwokrama was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat. It manages 371,000 hectares of rainforest to demonstrate how conservation and sustainable economic activity can provide lasting environmental and social benefits.
The forest is divided into a Sustainable Utilisation Area and a Wilderness Preserve, allowing the centre to examine how conservation, research and economic use can support one another.
Its work involves 20 local communities, comprising approximately 7,000 people, which participate in timber, tourism, research and forest management activities through co-management and benefit-sharing arrangements.
The centre also supports research into climate change and the value of forest ecosystem services. It said ExxonMobil Guyana had funded the development of its science programme and continued to contribute annually towards its implementation.
Iwokrama said the exhibition provided an opportunity to highlight the sustained cooperation and investment needed to conserve biodiversity while ensuring forests benefit communities.
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