Unlike other South American countries Guyana’s official language is English. But it shares much in common with its neighbors – including lush tropical rain forests.

IN THE NEWS: CI and Guyana have established a conservation concession.
VIDEO: Learn more about Guyana's Conservation Concession

Guyana is sparsely populated, with fewer than one million people, which is one reason why its natural environment is largely untouched. The majority of Guyanese live in a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast, leaving intact up to 80 percent of the country’s interior tropical forest.

This relatively undisturbed landscape rests on an ancient geological formation, the Guayana Shield, an area that includes all of Suriname and French Guiana and extends into western and southern Venezuela and northern Brazil. These forests are the source of 20 percent of the world’s fresh water and represent 18 percent of the world’s tropical forest carbon. They serve as a remarkable global-scale utility that benefits not just Guyanese but people all over the world.

The Government of Guyana, under the leadership of President Bharrat Jagdeo, is taking major steps to protect its natural resources. In 2002, the government granted Conservation International the world’s first "conservation concession" to protect 200,000 acres (81,000 hectares) of primary rain forest in the Upper Essequibo watershed.

IN PHOTOS: Check out the Upper Essequibo and the species that live within the region.

In 2006, Guyana's government took a further step by granting land title for 1.5 million acres (607,000 hectares) of forest to the Wai Wai indigenous community, which has lived in harmony with the land for many years. In 2007, the Wai Wai worked with the government and CI to declare their land a protected area, the Konashen Community-Owned Conservation Area. Guyana’s first community-owned protected area and the country’s largest protected area to date, Konashen conserves the headwaters of the Essequibo River, Guyana’s largest source of fresh water.

Two other protected areas have also been established: Iwokrama and Kaieteur National Park. However, Guyana remains the only country in the Western Hemisphere without a national protected area system. While the country is now drafting protected areas legislation – including the creation of new protected areas comprising more than 1.5 million acres (607,000 hectares) – wildlife poaching, legal and illegal mining, and unsustainable logging are growing threats.

We are working closely with Guyana’s government and local communities to protect this remarkable place, known to the country’s original people as the “land of many waters.”

EXPEDITION: Take a virtual expedition to Guyana's Eastern Kanuku Mountains with our scientists.