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| People are coming to Port Kaituma in the hoping of striking it rich |
Almost
everyone in Port Kaituma is making money from gold. From the miners who head
out to the camps in the surrounding jungle to the owners of the bars and stores
where the miners spend their money.
It is clear
that the economy of this small town in northwest Guyana is entirely reliant on
the precious mineral.
"I
moved here for the work," says Wayne Wright Doris, a docker unloading
food, fuel and timber at the river port. "I'm very comfortable here",
he says.
The goods
Mr Wright Doris is handling are destined for the mining camps, known as back
dams.
Port
Kaituma's reliance on mining is replicated across Guyana - gold accounts for
nearly half of the country's total exports, which were some $218m in the first
quarter of 2011.
But mining
threatens what could be a greater asset for Guyana - its pristine rainforests.
Around 80%
of the country is covered by Amazon jungle which is home to a myriad of
species, including the rare golden tree frog, jaguar and harpy eagle.
It is a
dilemma many developing countries face - how do you balance the desire for
economic growth and preserve the world's forests?
As a new
round of UN climate talks gets under way in Durban, South Africa, from 28
November until 9 December, Guyana's outgoing president Bharrat Jagdeo believes
he has the answer to this particular dilemma.
He came up
a scheme in 2006 to "sell" stewardship of his country's rainforests
to investors who would pay to preserve them.
The
Norwegian government liked the idea and in 2009 pledged $250m to Guyana in
return for protection of the forest.
But so far,
Guyana has not received any of the $70m deposited to date with the World Bank.
Increasing
threat
President
Jagdeo says the World Bank has never administered funds for a scheme like this
before and puts the delay in disbursing the money down to teething problems.
Mr Jagdeo,
who cannot stand for office again, has indicated that he expects the funds to be
released once Guyana's general election on 28 November is over.
But amid
the delay, gold is continuing to fetch high prices on international markets, so
increasing the threat to Guyana's rainforests.
Flying over
the country, the back dams stand out as ugly yellow scars on an otherwise deep
green surface.
"Two
years ago on trips to Kaieteur Falls I wouldn't see any evidence of
mining," says local tour operator Alisha Ousman.
"Now
there are patches everywhere, there's no control of logging and mining."
These
concerns are echoed in Norway, where critics of the scheme say the government
cannot properly monitor what is happening on the ground in Guyana
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| Gold accounts for almost half of Guyana's total exports |
"I am
yet to see any concrete action by the Guyanese government to make sure more
mining does not lead to increased deforestation in the long term," says
Vemund Olson from the Rainforest Foundation in Norway.
President
Jagdeo insists that his government has the situation under control.
He says the
government is monitoring key road and river routes to check for any illegal
logging.
Mr Jagdeo
has also pledged to replant the areas cleared by small-scale miners for the
back dams and help medium-sized companies to do the same.
"There's
a difficulty in being the first," said Mr Jagdeo. "We want to create
a model that can be easily replicated by other countries, so we can't cut
corners."
As other
nations show an interest in implementing similar schemes - including the
Republic of Congo, Belize and Suriname - Guyana's success or failure in
resolving the dilemma of economic growth versus environmental protection will
be closely watched.
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