The General Assembly of the International Society of Biodiversity of the Guiana Shield (IBG) unanimously approved the award to host the IV International Congress on Biodiversity of the Guiana Shield in 2016 to Guyana. The Guyana’s case to host the IV Congress was presented by Ms. Vanessa Benn of the Iwokrama International Centre. Ms. Benn and Dr. Patrick Williams, Country Director of WWF Guyana, were nominated to serve as Guyana representatives on the IBG’s Board for the next three years.
A new study published in the scientific journal, Neotropical Ichthyology uncovers the secret diet of the Arapaima. Contrary to many expectations, the research shows that Arapaima are not in fact top predators, feeding mainly as secondary consumers, and with a quite varied diet.
Scientists have described a new species of poison dart frog in the Iwokrama Forest. It is just the size of your thumb nail, and is only known from a small area of forest in the Iwokrama Mountains. Its latin name is Allobates amissibilis.
Allobates amissibilis. Photo courtesy of M. Hoelting and R. Ernst/Senckenberg
Now that a North American and European ban on mercury exports is in place, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud was quoted in the media as saying that it could be up to ten years before the local mining sector becomes mercury-free. The ban coincided with a dip in international gold-prices, indicating that Minister Persaud’s 10 year time-scale may be too little too late.
Photo: Pete Oxford
Under the COBRA (Community Owned Best practice for sustainable Resource Adaptive management in the Guiana Shield, South America) project, communities of the North Rupununi have made a video highlighting the importance of their forests for their livelihoods. The film which was produced, written an edited by the community members demonstrates the excellent work of project COBRA.
Fifteen percent of Guyana’s reptiles and amphibians are new to science, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. The study documented the presence of 324 species of amphibians and reptiles in the Guyana; 148 amphibians, 176 reptiles.
Guyana on Thursday joined a regional pact to protect jaguars, the elusive spotted cat that is the biggest land predator in the Americas but is vulnerable due to expanded agriculture and mining that carves away at their fragmented habitat.
The Guyana protected areas system received a significant boost yesterday with the exchange of notes to formally initiate a funding grant from the German Government to the Guyana Government via the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
German Ambassador Stefan Schluter said that his country’s partnering with Guyana on environmental issues began in 1996, and since then, has continued to grow. “We are actually now celebrating the third phase of this on-going project which, so far, amounts to US$14 -15M. This is the latest phase which will have about Euros 5 million in aid.
Guyana Conservation Network | GuyCoN 