Southern Guyana Protected Area

The Amazonian tropical forests of Guyana are among the planet's least populated areas. These forests constitute an exceptional conservation opportunity that does not exist in most areas of the world.

The government of Guyana is committed to creating a network of protected areas that preserves the country's diverse ecosystems. It has initiated the development of new protected area legislation and the necessary institutional frameworks (including the creation of a Protected Areas Secretariat).

The Global Conservation Fund (GCF) is providing key support to this effort by funding three protected area projects in Guyana and working directly with Conservation International (CI) Guyana, the government of Guyana and the World Bank to create a conservation trust fund. The fund will support long-term management costs for Guyana’s National Protected Area System and sustainable development alternatives for local communities.

Backed by GCF funding, CI-Guyana and indigenous communities are working with the government to define the boundaries of the first protected area, the 200,000-hectare Southern Guyana Protected Area, situated along the remote Brazil/Guyana border.