A business community whose membership is mainly involved in Guyana’s oil and gas industry is committing financial support to the protection and sustainable use of one of the country’s largest rainforest reserves.
The British Chamber of Commerce Guyana (BritCham) will provide annual funding to the Iwokrama International Centre over the next three years to support the Centre’s work under the Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA).
The commitment builds on a cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Iwokrama and BritCham forged in 2025, with the latest agreement providing for annual funding over the three-year period.
Iwokrama CEO Dane Gobin said the Centre is grateful for the support, which will help implement its activities under President Irfaan Ali’s GBA initiative. Both Iwokrama and BritCham are members of the alliance.
Gobin also specifically highlighted the composition of BritCham’s membership, noting that it is mainly involved in the oil and gas industry.
He said it was “heartening” to see businesses from that sector recognise the importance of Guyana’s green agenda.
The funding will support Iwokrama’s work under the GBA, while the two organisations are also looking to develop and implement joint initiatives.
According to the Centre, those initiatives could include social and biological assessments, education and awareness, livelihoods initiatives, research, sustainable forest management and fundraising.
For BritCham Chairman Faizal Khan, the partnership reflects the organisation’s position that economic growth and environmental stewardship should go hand in hand.
“Guyana has a unique opportunity to demonstrate to the world that a rapidly growing economy can also be a global leader in biodiversity conservation,” Khan said.
He acknowledged that the Chamber’s annual contribution is “modest for now,” but said BritCham hopes it will serve as a catalyst for greater collaboration between the private sector and organisations working to protect Guyana’s natural heritage.
The commitment therefore places a business organisation representing companies, largely from the oil and gas sector, alongside an institution whose work centres on Guyana’s rainforest, biodiversity, research and sustainable forest management.
Iwokrama manages a 371,000-hectare rainforest in central Guyana.
The Centre was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama Forest in a manner intended to produce lasting ecological, economic and social benefits for Guyana and the wider world.
The forest is divided into a Sustainable Utilization Area and a Wilderness Preserve, where Iwokrama says it tests approaches to sustainable forest use and conservation.
The work also involves people living in communities connected to the forest.
Iwokrama says 20 local communities, representing approximately 7,000 people, are shareholders and participants in its sustainable timber, tourism, research and forest-management activities through co-management and benefit-sharing arrangements.
The Centre also works with scientists and researchers studying the forest, including its response to climate change and the scope and value of its ecosystem services.
Iwokrama says it has developed a portfolio of sustainably managed and certified business models involving the public and private sectors and local communities, generating income from the forest and its natural assets.
The new BritCham commitment will add to the Centre’s existing support from corporate partners. Iwokrama notes, for example, that ExxonMobil Guyana has funded the development of its Science Programme and continues to provide an annual contribution to that programme.
The British connection to Iwokrama also predates the latest partnership.
Gobin noted the Centre’s longstanding links with the United Kingdom, including through the Commonwealth Secretariat, one of Iwokrama’s founding partners, and its patron, King Charles III.
British High Commissioner to Guyana Joseph Fisher welcomed the strengthened relationship between Iwokrama and BritCham.
Fisher said BritCham’s support for the Centre and its work under the GBA demonstrates that environmental conservation and sustainable economic growth can go hand in hand.
He also noted that the United Kingdom joined the Global Biodiversity Alliance earlier this year and highlighted its longstanding ties with Iwokrama.
While the announcement confirms annual funding for the next three years, the specific value of BritCham’s contribution was not disclosed.
The release also does not identify specific projects that will receive the funding, saying instead that the partnership could cover areas including conservation-related assessments, education, livelihoods, research, sustainable forest management and fundraising.
For now, the agreement represents a three-year commitment from a business community largely connected to Guyana’s oil and gas industry to support work focused on the country’s rainforest and biodiversity.
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