About Business Partnerships

Iwokrama develops cross-sectoral partnerships as the basis for truly sustainable businesses. Partners include:

• Amerindian communities
• Government of Guyana
• NGO's
• research institutions
• donors
• local and international private sectors

Private sector partnerships are forged through transparent and competitive processes whenever possible. Prospective partners must be of sound reputation, able to demonstrate access to adequate financial resources and conduct the business in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly fashion.

>Who are Iwokrama's Partners?

Advantage of Cross-Sectoral Partnerships

Cross-sectoral partnerships help guarantee social sustainability by ensuring appropriate benefit sharing at local and national levels. Each party brings particular skills or characteristics to the partnership. For example:

• Private sector: focus on profits, efficiency, quality control, business development skills
• Local communities:understanding of local cultural and social values; traditional knowledge of the forest and its resources, a resource for monitoring social and cultural sustainability of businesses
• Iwokrama: understanding of rights and regulations, niche marketing through branding, capacity and resources for ecological monitoring

Private Sector Partnership Principles

Iwokrama held a national workshop in September 2000 to discuss the development of principles for business partnerships between Iwokrama and the private sector. The following guiding principles were concluded:

• All resource utilisation rights and contractual arrangements must be developed through open, competitive processes that are transparent to all stakeholders.

• Potential partners must be committed to independent evaluation and certification of their environmental performance and set high standards of environmental stewardship as part of their core business strategy.

• Potential partners must be committed to honouring Iwokrama's Intellectual Property Rights and Benefit Sharing Protocols.

• Potential partners must be committed to developing equity partnerships with both their employees and with the local communities of the Iwokrama Ecosystem.

• Potential partners must demonstrate the capacity to link Iwokrama to high-value niche markets.

• Preference will be given to partners prepared to involve national entrepreneurs in joint venture operations.