Press Release 11 January 2005

Government of Guyana Secures Support for Iwokrama from the United Nations Development Programme

Georgetown, Guyana -- Iwokrama International Centre announced today that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has provided a loan of US$300,000 to the Iwokrama International Centre in response to a request for emergency support from the Government of Guyana. UNDP will provide the interest-free three-year loan to Iwokrama to accelerate business development within the Iwokrama Forest and to meet administrative and recurrent expenditures. This loan is one result of the meeting of Iwokrama senior staff, Iwokrama Trustees and local community leaders with His Excellency, President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana, on December 1, 2004.

In March 2003, Iwokrama underwent a major restructuring of its operations and financing. Changes included the reduction of annual expenditures from US$2.18 million in 2002 to US$1.38 million in 2003 to US$1.2 million in 2004. Iwokrama also refocused efforts on generating earned income (from tourism and training) which has jumped from 6.4% of total revenue in 2002 to 28% of total revenue in 2004. In 2004, the Centre earned in excess of US$220,000 which was 43% higher than what was earned in 2003. This increase in revenue resulted from enhanced private sector partnerships and increasing visitation from 347 persons in 2003 to over 900 in 2004.

Even with these advances and improvements in efficiency, Iwokrama has found it difficult to attract international funding. The main problem in fundraising has been Iwokrama’s historical focus on international donors at a time when global priorities have shifted to terrorism, poverty, and global health issues. From 1993, Iwokrama has been strongly supported by international donors including the Global Environment Facility, UNDP, Canadian International Development Agency, Department for International Development (UK), and the European Union.

Iwokrama will continue to focus on generating income from the Iwokrama Forest through sustainable timber harvesting, tourism, and providing training services based on the protected area and collaborative management experience of staff. Iwokrama has also worked through 2004 to attract small grants and funds from Foundations, individuals and corporations in the USA. A new US NGO, “Friends of Iwokrama – USA”, was formed in November 2004 and has already begun to generate funds through direct contributions.

While welcoming the support from the UNDP, the Centre still recognises the substantial financial challenges for 2005. The Iwokrama Business Plan 2005-2006 estimates that Iwokrama will require an additional US$1 million of donor funds in 2005 and 2006 to reach self sufficiency by 2007. The Government of Guyana and Iwokrama are working on approaches to the German Government, the International Tropical Timber Organization and the European Union to source these additional funds. Iwokrama will also continue on its positive business development trajectory to ensure that it increases the percentage of total funds that can be earned from the valuable resources of the Iwokrama Forest.

Iwokrama’s short term survival will still depend on the generous support of donors.

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