Deforestation associated with gold mining in Guyana threatens primary tropical forest, vulnerable species, and Indigenous livelihoods.
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Species at Risk
Giant Otter (EN), Giant Anteater (VU), Giant Armadillo (VU), Guiana Spider Monkey (VU)
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Carbon stored
553,300,740 mT *
*(metric tons of CO2 equivalents) -
Partner
South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) / South Central Peoples Development Association (SCPDA)
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2,238,000 Proposed Acres Conserved by
Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) or Amerindian Protected Areas
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Project Cost: $2,335,250
2,238,000
Deforestation associated with gold mining in Guyana threatens primary tropical forest, vulnerable species, and Indigenous livelihoods.
-
Species at Risk
Giant Otter (EN), Giant Anteater (VU), Giant Armadillo (VU), Guiana Spider Monkey (VU)
-
Carbon stored
553,300,740 mT *
*(metric tons of CO2 equivalents) -
Partner
South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) / South Central Peoples Development Association (SCPDA)
-
2,238,000 Proposed Acres Conserved by
Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) or Amerindian Protected Areas
-
Project Cost: £1,868,200
2,238,000
The carbon stored in the proposed conserved area is equivalent to consuming
gallons of gasoline
The Guiana Shield in the northern Amazon biome holds one of Earth’s largest remaining blocks of primary tropical forest, with over 90% intact. This region in remote southern Guyana contains a vast mosaic of protected areas to safeguard dense, ancient rainforest storing high levels of carbon. The Wapichan headwaters here are formed by a network of freshwater sources that include some of Guyana’s largest rivers.
Gold mining is jeopardizing the ecosystem and threatened species like the Giant Otter, Giant Anteater, and Giant Armadillo as well as the communities of Wapichan Indigenous Peoples. Road building is also allowing increased access for exploitation of forest resources.
Rainforest Trust will support our partner South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) / South Central Peoples Development Association (SCPDA), an Indigenous-led NGO, in an extraordinary opportunity to protect 2,238,000 acres of highly intact rainforest in the new Wapichan Headwater Conserved Area. By formally establishing Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) or Amerindian Protected Areas, the project will help secure a new land title for one ancestral Indigenous territory and “extensions” of titles over larger areas of four Wapichan Wiizi territories.
Explore the Wapichan Headwaters
Giant Armadillo, by Andrew Snyder
Reddish-brown Bearded Saki by Allan Hopkins-Wikimedia Commons
Kanuku Mountains, by SRDC
Giant Anteater with baby, by Lucas Leuzinger
Connectivity
The water-rich ecological corridor formed by the proposed new Wapichan Headwater Conserved Area links the Amazon and Essequibo River basins. This area will become part of a protected corridor that includes another current Rainforest Trust project and stretches along Guyana’s border with Brazil, linking the 1.5-million-acre Kanuku Mountains Protected Area in the north and the 1.6-million acre Konashen Community-owned Conserved Area in the south.
Stop the Relentless Spread of Gold Mining
The gold mining that has plagued northern Guyana for centuries threatens the primary forests of the still-intact, Wapichan Wiizi territories to the south. Securing land tenure rights will enable Indigenous communities to stop new mining, logging, or other extractive concessions in their territories.
Support Decades-long Effort by Indigenous Peoples to Protect their Territories
Indigenous Wapichan people have been working for 20 years to demarcate their territories, develop maps, and collect biodiversity data for this area, and each survey identifies species new to science. Legal recognition of the ownership and management rights to these five territories will preserve the diverse natural resources and cultural practices they depend on for their livelihoods and survival.
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Conservation work is critical, challenging, and can be costly. We work hard to ensure we raise only the funds needed for each project. In the rare case we raise more money than needed or a project comes in under budget, excess monies will be transferred to the Conservation Action Fund. This fund supports our important conservation work throughout the tropics.
Project Modifications
Rainforest Trust conducts extensive research and due diligence on each of the projects that we support, so that once a project is offered for public support we believe it will succeed. We work closely with our project implementers, offer support, and regularly monitor their progress. Given the nature of the work, projects may not progress exactly as intended and may be unable to meet all objectives. To respond dynamically to the needs of our project implementers and the realities of the landscapes in which they operate, Rainforest Trust expressly reserves the right to modify a project as it deems necessary, provided that donor intent is honored by ensuring that that the original project objectives are diligently pursued and that project funds continue to benefit the landscape and species identified in the project overview. Project modifications that we may need to make in certain circumstances include the specific project implementer, the size of the landscape to be protected, the type of protection to be afforded to the landscape, and the development of sustainability mechanisms.
Partnering to Save Rainforest
Our partners’ ability to work with their governments and build strong connections with local communities ensures the successful implementation of our projects.
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