Press Release 03 October 2003

First Iwokrama Guide Training Course Will Help Ensure Benefits for Local Communities

Iwokrama is running its first training course for tour guides in the Iwokrama Forest on October 6th, 2003.

The one month course is supported by the Canadian International Development Agency. Representatives attending the course have been selected from among applicants from the North Rupununi communities that are represented by the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB).

Instructors for the course come from Trekforce, University of Guyana, Guyana Forestry Commission, NARI, Ministry of Local Government, the local communities, and Iwokrama. Course instructors also include Iwokrama Rangers trained under the two previous Iwokrama Ranger training courses. Trekforce is working with Iwokrama to help in curriculum development and logistics management.

Training tour guides is vital for development of the tourism sector in Guyana. The training provides guides with the necessary basis to ensure that visitors can safely enjoy and understand the Iwokrama Forest.

The training will focus on equipping guides with the skills to interpret the main tourism products in the Iwokrama Forest including the Canopy walkway, Turtle Mountain, the Cock of the Rock trail, and the trails around the field station at Kurupukari. In addition, the course will cover elementary wilderness first aid, Iwokrama natural and social history, and survival and interpretation skills.

This first Iwokrama guide training course will certify guides to work in the Iwokrama Forest ; only certified guides and Iwokrama Rangers will be able to operate in the Iwokrama Forest. In the future, Iwokrama will expand the course to meet the needs of tour operators and the developing protected area system in Guyana .

The guide training course is a component of Iwokrama's new tourism development strategy that includes strengthening links with private sector and ensuring local community involvement in tourism in the Iwokrama Forest.