Georgetown: Following passage of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill 2016 last week, Government has announced its intention to introduce a group of rangers to enforce the new laws aimed at curbing the illegal trade of wildlife.
This was revealed by President David Granger on his weekly televised programme the Public Interest which aired on Friday. He noted that in order to back up the new legislations, Government will be employing a core of wardens in the hinterland to protect not only the mining areas but forestry, the areas of wildlife and in the area of tourism.
“So we’ll be developing a core of rangers who will enforce the law. Part of our problem in the past has been legislation but another part is enforcement of that legislation. So by the passage of this (Wildlife Conservation and Management) Bill, we will be able to guarantee the protection of some of the world’s most valuable flora and funa,” the President stated.
He noted that too often, there are sightings of persons on the streets of Guyana with a string of iguanas or there are stories of people smuggling towatowas in their curlers or photographs of people going into protected areas with huge freezers or fridges catching fishes that are quite rear.
President Granger went on that the Wildlife Bill is very critical since there has been excessive smuggling and excessive endangerment of some species. He recalled years ago when someone actually exported dolphins.
The Head of State highlighted that many Guyanese do not know That there are dolphins here much more seen any but noted that there are river dolphins and that person was able to find and export them at great profits.
“So it needs to be brought under control and that’s one of the reasons why we separating it from the extractive industries because these animals are more important to us, they are more profitable to us alive than dead and we need set up the mechanisms for enforcement,” Granger pointed out.
Consequently, the President explained that it was necessary to put the administration and enforcement of the new Wildlife Act under the Department of Environment, which was recently removed from the Ministry of Natural Resources to avoid over burdening that ministry which has its work cut out particularly with the opening of the petroleum sector and already with the mining and logging industries.
The Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill was passed in the wee hours of Tuesday last, allowing Guyana to fulfil its requirements as a party to the Convention on International Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), thus guaranteeing the protection of the nation’s flora and fauna.
The CITES membership process revolves around certain responsibilities, including having appropriate laws and regulations to curb illegal trade of wildlife and to provide for the safe and regulated breeding, movement and trading of wildlife, without and within of state parties.
The lengthy Bill is divided into 85 parts. Its key objectives are to create a supportive mechanism cognisant of the national goals of wildlife protection, conservation management and sustainable use, and to create a national framework and mechanisms governing the local and international trade in all species of Guyana’s wildlife.
It will lead to the implementation of the primary provisions of the CITES convention and also to provide a framework of licensing and decisions which support core principles of transparency, certainty, natural justice and fairness.
The bill also makes provisions for captive breeding and wildlife-ranching.
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