GUYANA’S first centre for biodiversity, conservation and environmental education was commissioned by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds at a simple ceremony hosted by Conservation International (CI) in collaboration with the National Parks Commission (NPC) at the Botanical Gardens, Georgetown yesterday.
The conversion of the curator’s house into the resource centre called Jenman Education Centre (JEC) was formalised by the two organisations last week with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will ensure the sustainability of the centre.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds delivered the feature address and congratulated CI, NPC and other partner organisations for establishing the centre to educate the public and make them aware of Guyana’s rich natural heritage and the abilities of organisations to preserve and protect it. He encouraged them to continue supporting the centre so that it could grow "from strength to strength”.
He said the Jenman building is a repository of Guyana’s natural history, and the latter not only offers a place of recreation, but has always played an important role in providing an opportunity for Guyanese and visitors to see some of our rich flora and some exotic species here and from other places.
In pledging the Government’s support for the initiative, the Prime Minister said: “The Jenman Education Centre will add new dimension to the centre of interest within the Botanical Gardens and be part of the wider framework of promoting a better understanding and appreciation of our natural heritage. The Government of Guyana remains committed to the principles of sustainable development and we are moving in the direction of conserving our biodiversity through a number of initiatives such as a Protected Areas System.”
He said environmental education and awareness play an important role in Guyana’s tourism development.
A section of the audience at the function.
“In all of this, education and awareness has an important role to play, not only in terms of creating that awareness of what we have as a country, but also the roles we can play in the wise management of our resources,” he said.
He explained that the government has demonstrated its commitment through the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), strengthening of the National Parks Commission and embracing wider civil society in its environmental protection efforts. He used the Jenman centre’s successful establishment as an example.
“This partnership has worked and the Government of Guyana would like to express its support and encouragement to build upon this gap. We want sustainability and, in particular, we want to sustain our biodiversity, he said.
According to Mr. Hinds, these environmental effects arrive from mankind’s needs, desires, expectations and attempts to live a good life. He said humans need to reconcile their expectations, aspirations, lifestyle, commitment and ideas in order to have sustainable environment and biodiversity.
“We need to see how they interact and we may need to review and change some of our expectations and our aspirations,” Hinds stated before acknowledging the selfless and successful attempts and contributions of late English horticulturist, George Jenman, who outlined and cultivated the Georgetown Garden into one of the Caribbean’s best.
Expressing a sense of pride in the venture of the two organisations, he said: “I have pleasure in declaring the Jenman Centre open!”
Executive Director of Conservation International Guyana retired Major General Joseph Singh explained that sustainable development calls for “collective efforts” by everyone affected.
“The successful establishment of the centre required a total effort by all of Guyanese because the conservation of our natural and national heritage is not something that is the preserve only of conservation agencies or the National Trust or The Heritage Society. It involves all of us because it is our heritage,” he said.
Singh said the idea of establishing the institute was pushed by his organisation after it realised that coastal residents have little knowledge of the country’s natural heritage.
“Persons working in the interior recognise that because of logistic difficulties, time and unfamiliarity in many cases with the geography of the country, the bulk of people living on the coast of the country were not as familiar as they ought to be and - as the saying goes ‘knowledge is power…’
Singh pointed out that the outreach programme targets the 20 000 visitors to the gardens for conservation, rest and relaxation purposes.
“The surreptitious conditions here are conducive to acquiring knowledge, just sitting and contemplating nature, especially if one goes across the kissing bridge, or visits the manatee ponds or the small tropical forest areas” within the zoological park and garden, an area where you cannot help but observe nature, especially with the presence of the beautiful birds, and wildlife that use there as habitat.
Singh said someone visiting the one-stop-shop for just 15 minutes “will be able to acquire enough working knowledge to motivate them to understand, to have an appreciation and more importantly to support and be a part of that collective national will to be able to conserve, protect and sustainably manage our heritage.”
He thanked the other agencies for examining the ‘germ of an idea’ and working along with his organisation in executing “a tool for good interaction between those who are viewing the display, and those who are the custodians of our landscapes, and those who are facilitating the process of developing the National System of Protected Areas.”
“We hope that it will stimulate you to greater thought, to greater understanding or quest for knowledge,” he said, and added that the centre is just the beginning of an environmental awareness campaign.
“Do not look at this as the end… We now are at the commencement of a process to educate the public,” he told the gathering.
General Manager of NPC Inge Nathoo said her organisation is happy to be a part of the project.
“We feel very proud and heartened that this opportunity has been presented to us by Conservation International and undertake that we make our best effort for resounding success.”
She said staff members of the NPC are also happy at the beneficial use of the Jenman building which had remained abandoned for many years.
She thanked Disney Animal Kingdom for funding the project to the tune of US$25,000 and other donors for contributing equipment and furnishings.
Nathoo said the Ministry of Education, the Guyana Tourism Authority, Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society, Pan American Health Organisation, EPA, and Iwokrama all have educational corners in the building.
“As the programme evolves, we will broaden the base of our alliances to make the Jenman Centre the ultimate showcase for environmental education in Guyana,” Nathoo declares.
Education relevant to conservation
In her presentation at the launching ceremony, Ms. Rhonda Lee, who is coordinator of the centre, said ecologists feel educating persons on the environment is relevant to conservation.
“Environmentalists strongly believe the first step in the solution of the many environmental ills claiming this present generation is to address the thinking and attitudes of individuals towards the environment. This can be accomplished through environmental education. Environmental education is pertinent to conservation and other environmental initiatives,” she announced in delivering the mission and vision of the centre.
“It enhances public awareness, and in so doing, provides the public with the necessary skills to make informed decisions and take responsible action,” she said.
Lee added: “Environmental education should not advocate one particular course of action; rather it teaches individuals how to really vary a size of an issue through critical thinking and enhances their own public solving and decision making abilities… This embodies the vision and mission of the JEC!” she declared.
Lee, who told reporters last week, she is very excited about her new job, added that the establishment of this hub underscores a significant step in Guyana’s quest to promote environmental awareness and ultimately environmental protection.
“At the global level the establishment of this center is part of the corrective effort in ensuring an environmentally sound planet,” she firmly stated.
Communications Manager of CI, Lennox Cornette, who was overseer for the centre’s development, chaired the proceedings.
He said the partner agencies “will reform (the Jenman) building and make it more modern, more interactive… what we really wanted to do we could not have done…. But I’m sure that within maybe another year when you visit the centre you will be able to experience the environment in a very sophisticated way.”
They hope to use the spot for a daily eco-camp for schoolchildren sometime in the future.
The building’s interior, besides having bookshelves and various pieces of information and exhibition corners, features Stanhope Williams paintings of the endangered Harpy Eagle, Kaieteur Falls, and other interesting places and animals found in Guyana, as well as displays of locally-made balata craft products.