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Conservation International and the Guyana Forestry Commission yesterday signed a Grant Agreement worth $8M, fostering support for the implementation of critical activities within the recently established Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) Secretariat.Commissioner of Forestry, James Singh (centre), along with Head of Conservation International, Dr. David Singh,Carl Yastrzemski Red Sox Jersey, signing the agreement yesterday in the presence of Minister of Agriculture with responsibilities for forestry,Ryne Sandberg Cubs Jersey, Robert Persaud.The GFC was identified as the agency responsible for coordination of Guyana’s REDD activities, which are aimed at reducing deforestation and forest degradation.As a consequence, the REDD Secretariat, which was recently established, is housed within the GFC.Conservation International will partner in the national approach to assess forest carbon stock.Speaking at the simple signing ceremony, which took place at the GFC yesterday morning, Minister of Agriculture with responsibilities for Forestry, Robert Persaud, said that some work has begun in the area of bio-mass estimation in various soil types.There still needs to be an assessment model developed to assess forest carbon stock at the national level, drawing in some way on the resources and results of these steps already initiated, he added.“This important step to executing a methodology for forest carbon stock assessment will catalyse Guyana’s efforts towards maintaining its standing forests, not only as a means of a direct mitigation intervention to reduce carbon emissions, but also within the context of opportunity costs,” Persaud told the gathering.Additionally, this will establish an integral link between encouraging sustainable development and improvement of livelihoods for local communities and indigenous populations, the minister added.Some of the main deliverables of this initiative, he pointed out, are enhancing capacity at the national,Jerseys NFL China, regional and community levels to conduct continuous forest carbon stock assessment in Guyana.Others include creating a formal structure and framework,Johnny Pesky Red Sox Jersey, through the development of the methodology,Ben Zobrist Cubs Jersey, to conduct national assessment and monitoring of forest carbon stock that are appropriate, applicable, feasible and relevant in the Guyana context, and enabling the generation of a continuous updated information base on forest carbon storage capacity that is the basis of securing global carbon financing mechanisms, performance-based payments, and positive incentives.Guyana has a pristine natural tropical forest resource of about 18M hectares, or about 85 percent of the total land area of Guyana.This resource has been utilized for centuries in accordance with internationally accepted Sustainable Forest Management principles,James Shields White Sox Jersey, and the rate of deforestation is estimated at less than one percent per annum.Recently, President Bharrat Jagdeo launched an initiative on ‘Avoided Deforestation.’This initiative makes a strong case for the formulation of a new international agreement which uses market-based mechanisms to provide positive financial incentives for countries that have managed their tropical forests sustainably.It also calls for rewarding countries that voluntarily reduce or maintain their lower-than-average historical greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, and for the inclusion of forest protection under the carbon trading mechanism.The President’s ‘Avoided Deforestation’ initiative is one of 33 proposals globally on reducing deforestation and forest degradation. (Tusika Martin)