The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme has launched its innovative biodiversity monitoring component in Guyana to advance the understanding and conservation of the South American country’s rich biodiversity.
Officially announced on 13 November 2024 in Georgetown, the capital city, the initiative marks a significant step in integrating traditional ecological knowledge with cutting-edge scientific techniques to track changes in biodiversity.
“This initiative is vital to understanding and protecting Guyana’s biodiversity,” says Alona Sankar, commissioner of the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission. “Wildlife monitoring is essential to ensure stable and reproducing populations, a core aspect of our conservation goals.”
The SWM Programme is an international initiative that aims to improve the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in forest, savanna and wetland ecosystems. CIFOR-ICRAF is one of the four coordinating partners, which also include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
The programme 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 and communities in 15 participating countries.
Over the next two years, the initiative will be implemented with seven Indigenous communities in the Rupununi region of south-west Guyana, bordering the Brazilian Amazon. Rupununi is renowned for its exceptional ecological diversity – including forests, savannas and wetlands – and hosts an array of species, some of which are on the list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being threatened or vulnerable.
This monitoring component is part of a broader effort to develop cost-effective and scientifically robust methods to monitor biodiversity, with similar activities planned in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Cameroon.
By combining communities’ ecological knowledge with innovative tools – such as environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, soundscape monitoring and camera traps to monitor wildlife – the programme seeks to generate reliable data on key taxonomic groups, including birds, mammals and fish.
The biodiversity monitoring component addresses critical objectives at local and global levels. Locally, it aims to enhance the capacity of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to manage their natural resources by strengthening community-based monitoring systems. The data gathered will support informed decision making about their landscapes while contributing to national biodiversity priorities. Globally, the initiative aligns with efforts to track progress towards biodiversity targets, offering scalable methodologies that are applicable in similar ecosystems worldwide.
The biodiversity monitoring methods will assess species’ richness, occupancy, and population trends, focusing on cost efficiency and practical application. By comparing advanced technologies with traditional practices, the initiative should provide valuable insights into effective approaches for tracking biodiversity in diverse environments. “The value of protecting biodiversity is more relevant now than ever,” says René Van Nes, ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Guyana. “To know, assess and measure our biodiversity is vital. The launch of this component could not have come at a better time. We, as the EU, are proud to support and fund the SWM Programme in Guyana.”
