ANOTHER GREEN WIN as Guyana’s TREES Documents Approved by ART

The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) Secretariat has announced the approval of both the ‘TREES Registration Report 2021-2025’ and the ‘TREES Monitoring Report 2021,’which were submitted by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).

This approval was made on 13th January, 2023, and it is the sixth of 11 steps in the process to enter ART using TREES (The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard).

The program will now be able to move forward with validation and verification, which will be carried out by an independent body, selected from the list of approved ART Validation and Verification Bodies.

Once these steps are successfully completed, and ART TREES standard is met, the ART board may approve the issuance of serialized TREES Credits to Guyana.

Guyana engaged and will continue to engage in ART as a national Government, with the GFC being responsible for the management and coordination of the program.

Alongside the GFC are the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, Ministry of Natural Resources, Protected Areas Commission, Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Winrock International and Indufor Asia Pacific.

These bodies worked hand in hand with the GFC to provide the necessary guidance, information and support that were need.

ART is a voluntary international initiative that is specifically geared towards rewarding countries for the seven elements of REDD+.

By means of enhancing transparency and credibility, ART intends to help unlock large-scale financing to enableworldwide sustainable land-use and protect as well as restore forests.

The idea to enter ART occurred after various assessments of the first of ART-TREES in general, and then specifically the ART-TREES High Forest Low Deforestation (HFLD) module, circulated in August 2021.

Since Guyana is known for its forest conservation, where indigenous peoples have an exceptional role as forest overseers, it was clear that ART-TREES had the potential to recognise Guyana’s participation for the period 2016-2025.

It was during this period that Guyana continued to monitor forests activities and performance, even though no payments were received.

The approach set out in 2009, during the Guyana-Norway Agreement was being successfully used to continue sustainable growth and development.