One way to address this issue, as well as the lack of institutional stability, would be to create career civil servants at high levels of administration, especially for conservation and environmental offices. Once tenured, incumbents would have to refrain from participating in political activity, and positions would be filled competitively once vacant. Promotions would be based on performance, ensuring that a dedicated cadre of civil servants would monitor the environment. Additional incentives could be offered to those civil servants willing to work in remote places, and such individuals could eventually be integrated into central offices.
Options for lenders and development agencies. Lenders and Development Agencies can also assist policy-makers by directing funds to the following:
- Fund institutional capacity development, focussing especially on amplifying the presence of government officials in the field. The World Bank or the Global Environment Facility, for example, might provide seed money for data collection or training.
- Ensure that strong environmental policies are in place when instituting structural adjustment reform. Structural adjustment packages could include more active measures to ensure that environmental policy is strengthened at the same time that macroeconomic reforms are instituted.
Options for NGOs and researchers. Non-governmental organizations, universities, and researchers can also perform a significant role in helping to:
- Develop a database for monitoring environmental and social impacts, including information regarding extractive activity in the Guayana region, and records of international mining companies. For example, such groups could be involved in researching the impacts of logging and mining on indigenous communities, or tracking the past environmental and social records of international mining companies. Such oversight has not been institutionalized in many places, but for example, NGOs have been monitoring the activities of multinational petroleum companies in Ecuador throughout the last decade. [227]
Options for the private sectorBusinesses could implement the following steps:
- Collaborate with monitoring activities and help collect baseline data during the early stages of exploration. A percentage of revenue generated by extractive activities, for example, could fund continued data collection.
- Take immediate steps to adopt best practices for mining and logging. These include reducing the impact of logging techniques and heavy equipment, as well as carefully planning road-building. Similarly, in the case of mining, when operating in an area of former small-scale activity, companies can recover mercury spilled by small-scale miners and take steps to recover damaged ecosystems.
3. Consider new arrangements for forest resource use based on public participation.
Options for policy makers Some alternatives for policy-makers in defining a future for the Guayana region would be to:
- Conduct long-term land-use planning, and incorporate the needs and desires of traditional communities in developing national economic plans. Ideally, the land-use plan is a vision for sustainable development and natural resource conservation in the region, developed with the participation of local stakeholders. Recognition of basic human rights, such as the right to land, can be part of ensuring sustainable use of forest resources. Furthermore, involving indigenous peoples in planning and land-use management is often critical to creating local support for conservation activities, particularly in national parks and other protected areas.
As part of a land-use plan, policy-makers should consider a range of development options that would benefit local stakeholders, such as evaluating the alternatives for marketing non-timber forest products collected in a sustainable manner by indigenous communities. Extractive reserves have been established in Brazil and Colombia with the objective of providing local communities with a livelihood from the marketing of non-timber forest products. While not a panacea, such initiatives could provide a basis for establishing a sustainable, multiple use framework for ensuring the well being of local communities. [228]
- Demarcate indigenous territories, in consultation with the communities. Projects to map ancestral lands are already being carried out in Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. [229] In addition, the government should consider ratifying the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 169 on indigenous peoples’ rights, which updates Convention 107.
- Manage forest resources at a landscape level by considering co-management arrangements with indigenous communities and NGOs, as well as integrating environmental planning and management across government agencies. Such co-management agreements have been successful in Australia’s Kakadu National Park, for example, and have the added benefit of providing monitoring and enforcement in remote parks where encroachment currently poses a significant threat. [230]
References and notes
227 For guidelines on establishing a monitoring system, see A.B. Rosenfeld et al., Reinventing the Well: Approaches to Minimizing the Environmental and Social Impact of Oil Development in the Tropics (Washington, DC: Conservation International, 1997).
228 For a more in-depth discussion on extractive reserves in Brazil, see J. R. Murrieta and R. Pinz
