Guyana

Guyana is a country located in South America with an area of 214,970km².

The forest cover in Guyana is very important, which has a direct impact on the economy of the country, creating many jobs in the forestry sector. The country is mainly covered by primary or naturally regenerated forests, which represents approximatively 87% of the country’s surface. Most of these lands and forests belong to the Government, while only 14% belong to the indigenous population.

The FAO estimated that the net annual change in forest area in Guyana between 2010 and 2020 was -0.06% (FAO, 2020). Most of the deforestation is attributed to mining for gold and bauxite, which represents 60% of Guyana’s export by value. Other contributors to forest loss and degradation are logging, agricultural expansion, charcoal production and urban development.

According to the ITTO (2019), Guyana produced approximately 549,000 m³ of primary timber products between 2014 and 2018, which almost entirely originated from national forests. The country’s timber exports are primarily based on the export of logs and to a smaller extent on the export of sawnwood. The main importing countries of wood and wood products from Guyana are the United States, China, and the United Kingdom (ITC, 2020).

Sources:
EUFLEGT
FAO, 2020. Global Forest Resources Assessment
ITC 2020