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Guyana Forestry
Timber was the least exploited but most abundant natural
resource in Guyana in the early 1990s. Forests, many of which
reportedly had commercial potential, covered three-quarters of the
country's land. Over 1,000 different species of trees were known to
grow in the country.
The two main difficulties in timber production were the limited
access to the forests and electrical power problems at the major
lumber mills. The government and interested groups overseas were
addressing both difficulties. The government launched the Upper
Demerara Forestry Project in the early 1980s to improve hardwood
production on a 220,000-hectare site. In 1985 the International
Development Association, part of the World Bank, provided a US$9
million loan for expansion of the forestry industry. In 1990 the
government sold the state-owned logging company and announced plans
to allow significant Republic of Korea (South Korean) and Malaysian
investment in the timber industry. Showing concern for the longterm condition of its forests, the government also planned to set
aside 360,000 hectares of rain forest for supervised development
and international research into sustainable management.
Data as of January 1992
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