Living Guianas Report 2012

Abstract

The Guianas are the three countries Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, in the north east corner of mainland South America. They are included in the larger Guiana Shield and the Amazon biome. As such they are part of the largest tract of continuous tropical forest in an almost pristine state in the world. Their coastal and marine habitats form a highly productive and biodiverse region. Their beaches are important nesting sites for several species of endangered marine turtles and vast tracts of mangrove and swamp forests are found along the coast of the Guianas. The region is shared with indigenous people, or Amerindians, and maroons, descendants from African slaves, which retained and cultivated many tribal traditions. Population pressures are relatively low, even in the populated coastal areas where few cities and villages are found besides the three capitals. Cultural diversity is significant throughout the Guianas. With these given and unique features that are further outlined in chapter one, WWF Guianas took the initiative to develop a Living Planet Report for the Guianas, with the financial support of WWF-NL, WWF-France and together with Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development in the Netherlands. WWF’s biennial Living Planet Report includes only countries with more than one million inhabitants, thus omitting the Guianas. It looks at the state of the planet, with ambitious indicators such as the Living Planet Index; and the ecological footprint we humans pose on our planet in comparison to the biocapacity available to sustain our production and consumption. It contains important recommendations for better choices to come within the boundaries of our one planet. The message from the global Living Planet Report is very alarming. Species become less abundant or may even go extinct, ecosystems are further degraded while we strongly depend on healthy ecosystems and we consume 1.5 times that which the earth could sustain. On a regional scale, the Guianas, with their high forest cover and low population pressures, may be a spectacular exception to this pattern. It soon became clear that many data are lacking or not available to complete a Living Planet Report for the Guianas. This Living Guianas Report 2012 presents some first data on the Guianas to develop a Living Planet Report for the Guianas in the coming years. This report should be seen as a basis for further national and international discussion on the development of green economies in the Guianas and as a contribution to the process of formulation of national recommendations...