This report entitled ‘Guyana: Consolidated report of the legal, ecological and socio-economic baseline studies’ is part of the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme technical report series. The SWM Programme in Guyana was started in 2017 with the aim of improving the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife. It empowers resident communities to exercise traditional rights of access and long-term use of wildlife resources as a source of food and livelihood, without depleting them. The SWM Programme in Guyana seeks to ensure that the Rupununi region (administrative Region 9) can continue to offer sustainable options for food security and livelihoods in accordance with traditional lifestyles. Simultaneously, it aims to maintain healthy wildlife populations through integrated sustainable co-management models. The SWM Programme is an initiative of the Organization of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) funded by the European Union and co-financed by the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD). This seven-year programme (2017–2024) is being implemented in 15 OACPS member countries by a consortium of partners including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Centre for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In Guyana, the SWM Programme is being implemented by CIFOR in collaboration with the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission.
Tag: fishing
Struggles Beneath the Waves: Unveiling the Incidental Capture of Sea Turtles by Artisanal Fisheries in Angolan Waters
The modernization and intensification of fishing practices have raised the threat to sea turtles, with escalating unintentional captures endangering turtles of all life stages. In this study, we examined the impact of artisanal fishing on sea turtles in two coastal regions of Angola, southern Africa. Between August 2015 – March 2016, through participatory monitoring (n = 8) and interviews with fishers (n= 41), we documented unintentional turtle captures occurring year-round during fishing activities. A total of 405 turtles, 403 olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) and 2 green (Chelonia mydas), were caught in gillnets by fishers engaged in participatory monitoring. Net characteristics, including length and proximity to the shoreline, as reported by the interviewed fishers, correlated with those used by the monitoring group. We estimated approximately 1,219 turtles captured by the 41 interviewed fishers over the 8-month study period. Most captures occurred within 100 m from the shoreline. The likelihood of accidental turtle captures increased significantly with proximity to the beach, larger mesh sizes, and greater net lengths and number of hauls. We calculated a survival rate of 41%, and a mortality rate of 59% for captured turtles. Number of turtles caught as bycatch varied throughout the year, with the highest Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) reported for Oct. – Dec. Since this period aligns with the nesting season, most captured turtles are likely to be females. The high mortality rate reported in this study emphasizes the immediate threat posed by accidental captures to sea turtle populations, underscoring the critical importance of conservation efforts, particularly in artisanal gillnet fisheries.
The proposed co-management plan for fisheries in the North Rupununi Wetlands: what does it mean?
This brochure represents a simplified version of the Co-management Plan for Fisheries in the North Rupununi. It presents the vision on how communities would like to see their fishing grounds managed in collaboration with the government Fisheries Department.The SWM Programme is a major international initiative that aims to improve the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in forest, savannah and wetland ecosystems. It is funded by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD). Projects are being piloted and tested with governments, national partners and communities in 16 participating countries. The initiative is coordinated by a dynamic consortium of four partners, namely the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).