i ii GUYANA’S FIFTH NATIONAL REPORT TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY Approved by the Cabinet of the Government of Guyana May 2015 Funded by the Global Environment Facility Environmental Protection Agency Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment Georgetown September 2014 i ii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................................................ V ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................................................... VI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................... I 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 DESCRIPTION OF GUYANA .......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 RATIFICATION AND NATIONAL REPORTING TO THE UNCBD .............................................................................................. 2 1.3 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF GUYANA’S BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ................................................................................................. 3 SECTION I: STATUS, TRENDS, THREATS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN WELL‐BEING ...................................... 12 2. IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY TO THE ECONOMY AND HUMAN WELL‐BEING .............................................. 12 2.1 BENEFITS FROM REGULATING SERVICES ...................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 BENEFITS FROM PROVISIONING SERVICES ................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 BENEFITS FROM CULTURAL SERVICES ......................................................................................................................... 19 2.4 BENEFITS FROM HABITAT OR SUPPORTING SERVICES ..................................................................................................... 26 3. STATUS, TRENDS AND THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY ......................................................................................... 28 3.1 CHANGES IN THE STATUS AND TRENDS OF ECOSYSTEMS ................................................................................................. 28 3.2 MAIN THREATS ..................................................................................................................................................... 32 SECTION II: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN (NBSAP) AND MAINSTREAMING OF BIODIVERSITY ................................................................................................................. 43 4. NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN................................................................................ 43 4.1 BRIEF BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF NBSAP ......................................................................................................... 43 4.2 REVISING AND UPDATING OF NBAP II TO NBSAP TO ALIGN WITH THE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR BIODIVERSITY 2012‐2020 AND AICHI TARGETS .................................................................................................................................................................... 43 4.3 NBSAP AND MAINSTREAMING ................................................................................................................................ 44 4.4 IMPLEMENTATION OF NBSAP AND CBD .................................................................................................................... 65 SECTION III: PROGRESS TOWARDS 2020 AICHI TARGETS AND CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS RELEVANT MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS) ......................................................................................................................... 69 5.0 PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTINGTHE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR BIODIVERSITY (2011‐2020) AND PROGRESS TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE AICHI TARGETS ....................................................................................................... 69 5.1 CONTRIBUTION OF IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS TOWARDS ACHIEVEMENT OF MDGS ........................................................... 84 5.2 SUGGESTED ACTIONS AT NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND GLOBAL LEVELS ............................................................................... 90 APPENDIX I: PROCESS USED TO PREPARE REPORT, STAKEHOLDERS AND MATERIAL ........................................ ‐ 1 ‐ APPENDIX II: FURTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION........................................................................................ ‐ 3 ‐ iii List of Tables Table 1: Forest Product Export Summary Year 2013. ............................................................................... 14 Table 2: World ranking of Guyana in production of different agri-commodities (value wise). .................... 16 Table 3: Major non-traditional crops exported from Guyana during 2010-2013. ....................................... 17 Table 4: Livestock Production in Guyana (2009-2013). ............................................................................. 17 Table 5: Annual Exports for Fish, Prawns and Fish products (2008-2013). .............................................. 18 Table 6: Guyana Travel & Tourism Total Contribution to GDP. ................................................................ 19 Table 7: Profile of SGP projects approved in 2013. ................................................................................... 25 Table 8: Area Deforested 1990 to 2012. .................................................................................................... 28 Table 9: Wetlands Sites in Guyana Studied by WWF-Guianas in 2012. ................................................... 30 Table 10: Forest Change Area by Period and Driver from 1990 to 2012. .................................................. 40 Table 11: Summary of Projects currently being implemented. ................................................................... 61 Table 12: Progress in implementing Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and Progress towards Aichi Targets. .............................................................................................................................................. 69 Table 13: “Status at a Glance” showing the likelihood of Guyana meeting the MDGs in 2015. ................ 85 Table 14: Guyana’s Poverty Profile and Regional Distribution. ................................................................. 87 List of Figures Figure 1: Map showing Guyana in relation to South America, Amazonia, and the Guiana Shield Bio- geographic Provinces. ......................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2: Map showing Guyana’s Natural Regions. ..................................................................................... 5 Figure 3: Map showing Guyana’s Physiographic Regions. .......................................................................... 6 Figure 4: Graph Showing Comparative Export Value by Forest Product Category for 2013 and 2012. .... 14 Figure 5: Location of Proposed Important Bird Areas in Guyana. .............................................................. 21 Figure 6: Profiles of Community Based organisations consulted. .............................................................. 23 Figure 7: Environmental Issues Identified at Community Consultation meetings. ..................................... 24 Figure 8: Livelihood issues identified during consultations with CBOs. ..................................................... 24 Figure 9: Annual Rate of Deforestation by Period from 1990 to 2012. ...................................................... 29 Figure 10 : Map showing coastal zone forest of Guyana. .......................................................................... 31 Figure 11: Inundation due to sea level rise, minimum and maximum storm surges according to the CGCM2 model for the year 2051 for the selected study area on the coastal zone of Guyana. ........ 34 Figure 12: Inundation due to minimum and maximum storm surges (5 m) and sea level rise according to the HadCM3 for the year 2051 for the selected study area on the coastal zone of Guyana. ............ 35 Figure 133: Potentially Vulnerable Areas. .................................................................................................. 37 Figure 144: Water Degradation in land units where Mining and Forestry Overlap. ................................... 38 Figure 155: Historical and Year 3 Forest Change. ..................................................................................... 41 Figure 16: Guyana’s Protected Areas. ....................................................................................................... 57 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as the National Focal Point for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), coordinated the preparation of the Fifth National Report to the CBD, and would like to acknowledge all contributions during the process. The support and contributions of staff of the EPA, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the National Coordinator Office, are acknowledged as well as the