...to the first issue of the Iwokrama Newsletter for 2004.
This year we will continue to shift from research and planning to implementation of sustainable businesses in timber harvesting, tourism and training, and enhancing our capacities for monitoring and conserving the Iwokrama Forest . We will also launch a new public relations strategy that includes a new web site and written materials that demonstrate our focus on the interrelationships between the forest, people and business. We will also support new publications to showcase the extraordinary biodiversity of the Iwokrama Forest and Rupununi Wetlands. The area has an extraordinarily high species richness of fish (over 400 species) and bats (over 90 species), and is home to seven endangered giants (Giant River Otters, Black Caiman, Giant River Turtle, Arapaima, Jaguar, Harpy Eagle, and Giant Anteater). We need to make the world aware of the global significance of this small part of Guyana and Iwokrama's significance as one of the few international programmes that synergize local, national and international interests for tropical forest conservation.
This year Iwokrama will also focus on institutional sustainability through ongoing organizational change, increasing revenue streams from forest-based business and implementing a fundraising strategy to support conservation of the Iwokrama Forest . I hope you find this newsletter informative and reflective of these exciting ambitions.
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