Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation, Guyana
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation, Guyana 1 Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation, Guyana Table of Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………….…….4 Foreword…………………………………………………….…………………………………….7 Foreword by UNDP Resident Representative, Guyana………………………………..………….9 Acronyms……………………………………………………………………………………..….10 List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………...……….15 List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………….15 List of Boxes……………………………………………………………………………..………15 Executive Summary of the Aligned National Action Plan 2015-2025 for Guyana………….…..16 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………..………….…19 1.1 Global Context – Desertification and Land Degradation…………………..………….19 1.2 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification…………………….………….20 1.3 Guyana’s obligations under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.................................................................................................................21 1.4 The overarching goal and objectives of the Aligned NAP for Guyana 2015-2025……………………………………………………………………………...22 1.5 UNCCD Strategy 2008-2018…………………………………………………………..23 2 APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING THE ALIGNED NATIONAL ACTION PLAN………29 2.1 Governance of the Aligned NAP………………………………………………..…….29 2.2 Methodology for the preparation of the Aligned NAP…………………….………….29 2.3 Stakeholder engagement and validation……………………………………………….31 3. THE DIAGNOSTIC FRAMEWORK AND NATIONAL CONTEXT………………….….32 3.1 National Development Strategies, Policies, and Plans……………………...…………32 3.2 Other relevant action plans and programmes………………………………………….43 3.3 Acts and Regulations……………………………………………………………..……46 3.4 National Context: Geography, Climate/Weather, Natural Resources, Land Cover And Productivity…………………………………………………………………….…52 3.5 Status of Land Degradation and Drought…………………………………………..…..57 4. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PLANS FOR ADDRESSING DESERTIFICATION, LAND DEGRADATION AND DROUGHT…………………………………………..……………71 4.1 Guyana’s achievements in addressing Land Degradation and Drought……………….71 4.2 Protocol for Drought Early Warning System………………………………………..…73 4.3 Stakeholder engagement…………………………………………………………….…80 4.4 Education/training, and awareness………………………………………..…………..80 4.5 Cross-sectoral institutional mechanisms for national coordination and 2 Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation, Guyana mainstreaming…………………………………………………………………….……82 4.6 Knowledge sharing…………………………………………………………………….82 4.7 Integration and alignment with the National Development Strategy and Plan, and relevant sectoral plans and policies…………………………………………..………..83 4.8 Regional integration and collaboration…………………………………...……………83 4.9 Sustainable development…………………………………………………………...…..84 4.10 Synergies……………………………………………………………………………….95 4.11 Capacity Building…………………………………………………………………..….97 4.12 Sustainable Land Management……………………………………………………..…97 4.13 Best Practices in Sustainable Land Management…………………………………...…99 4.14 Monitoring systems dedicated to DLDD…………………………………………….100 4.15 Policy framework……………………………………………………………………104 5. INTEGRATED INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK WITH INTEGRATED FINANCIAL STRATEGY FOR ALIGNED NAP IMPLEMENTATION………………………….……106 5.1 Global Environment Facility…………………………………………………….……106 5.2 Resource Mobilization………………………………………………………………..109 5.3 Partnership Building and Technology Transfer………………………………………115 5.4 Action Plan for the IFS…………………………………………………………….…117 5.5 Barriers to implementing the financial strategy for SLM……………………...……..121 6. UNCCD REPORTING PROCESS FOR THE ALIGNED NAP……………………….….123 6.1 PRAIS………………………………………………………………………...………..123 7. IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK AND SCHEDULE…………………..…………..124 7.1 Coordination, Communication, Synergies…………………………………………….124 7.2 Gap Assessment in the implementation of the NAP and priorities for the Aligned NAP…………………………………………………………………………..125 7.3 Proposed priority actions to combat DLDD and promote sustainable land management SLM………………………………………………………….………….137 7.4 Overall timeframe for Aligned NAP implementation………………………...……….137 7.5 Monitoring and Evaluation…………………………………………………………….138 8. CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………...……………………139 9. REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………..…….141 10. APPENDICES…………………………..………….………………...……………………149 Appendix 1: Posters used for public awareness activities…………………..……………..149 Appendix 2: Photographs of project activities……………………………………….…….151 3 Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation, Guyana Acknowledgements The Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation was prepared in partnership with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana represented by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, the United Nations Development Programme, and funded by the Global Environment Facility under the “Support the Alignment of Guyana’s National Action Plan to the UNCCD’s 10-year (2008-2018) Strategic Plan” Project. Special thanks to the UNDP Guyana Country Office (Dr. Patrick Chesney and Ms. Akua Carberry), and the then Guyana Lands & Surveys Commission’s (GL&SC) Commissioner and Project Manager, Mr. Doorga Persaud, Ms. Oleta Williams, Ms. Andrea Mahammad and Mr. Asib Mohamed. During the implementation of the Project, a National Action Plan Editorial Working Group consisting appointed representatives from key agencies of the natural resources, financial, administrative and planning sectors in Guyana was established. The function of the Group was to facilitate the review and provide feedback on all documents emanating from the Project within a reasonable time to facilitate efficient revision and approval of documents. Special thanks is therefore also extended to the members who actively served in this capacity namely: - Mr. Colis Primo - Environmental Protection Agency - Ms. Shenelle Agard - Guyana Geology and Mines Commission - Ms. Janice Bollers - Guyana Geology and Mines Commission - Mr. Carmichael Thorne - Ministry of Agriculture - Mr. Gavin Agard - Department of Natural Resources and the Environment - Colonel Francis Abraham - Civil Defence Commission In addition, a National Project Board provided supervision, guidance and facilitated support from the stakeholder agencies crucial to the multi-disciplinary work under UNCCD in Guyana. The Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation (NAP) is based on the results, analysis and recommendations of Studies undertaken in 2014 & 2015 under the Project. Both national and international consultants were contracted to undertake the following studies: 1. National Stocktaking Consultancy- spearheaded by Environmental Management Consultants. 2. Drought EWS Consultancy- spearheaded by Ms Agnes Atyang and Mr. Mario Epstein. 3. Institutional and Policy Expert Consultancy- spearheaded by Dr. Sennye Masike. 4. Integrated Investment Framework and Financing Strategy Consultancy- spearheaded by Dr. Alexandre Borde. 5. UNCCD reporting Expert Consultancy – spearheaded by Ms. Mena Carto 6. Database Developer Consultancy- spearheaded by Mr. Clarence Garraway. 4 Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation, Guyana The Government of Guyana is deeply indebted to all stakeholders who have invested their time and effort, provided information and documents, participated in the training and validation sessions, and facilitated stakeholder consultations to ensure that this Aligned NAP has become as integral and comprehensive as possible. The consultants and firms should also be commended for their dedication and tireless pursuit in completing key sections of the Aligned NAP. Special thanks to the following institutions is also extensions: Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs Ministry of Finance Ministry of Communities Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Education Ministry of Public Infrastructure Ministry of the Presidency Ministry of Communities Guyana Geology and Mines Commission Guyana Forestry Commission Guyana Livestock Development Board Guyana Office of Investment Guyana Rice Development Board Guyana Water Inc. Guyana Sugar Corporation Guyana Marketing Corporation Ministry of Natural Resources Bureau of Statistics Protected Areas Commission Hydrometeorological Services of the Ministry of Agriculture National Drainage and Irrigation Authority Central Housing and Planning Authority Civil Defence Commission Office of Climate Change Land Reclamation Committee Environmental Protection Agency National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute Mangrove Restoration Project Protected Areas Commission Inter American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Delegation of European Union 5 Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation, Guyana World Wildlife Fund World Bank Inter-American Development Bank Conservation International Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development United Nations Development Programme, Guyana School of Earth and Environmental Sciences 6 Aligned National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation, Guyana Foreword The major challenge for Guyana is to get the balance right between - on the one hand, the urgent need for equitable development and improved welfare (including food security and poverty alleviation) and, - on the other hand, the long-term sustainable management of the land and the vast resources, and of course, efforts to adapt to and mitigate impacts of climate change. This will depend on sufficient revenues to fund these investments. Necessarily, this will have to be funded through production, trade and income from the vast