01 Mar 2007 - Cayenne, French Guiana – The creation of
a new national park in this French territory in South America
will significantly increase the protection of tropical forests
in the Amazon, says WWF.
Vast in its own right, the 2 million-hectare Guyana Amazonian
Park will link up with other protected areas in neighbouring
Brazil, including the Tumucumaque National Park, Grao-Para
Station and the recently declared Maicuru Reserve. Together,
this cross-border protected areas network totals more than
12 million hectares, making it the world’s largest expanses
of tropical forest under conservation.
“We have been supporting the creation of this park for
the past 15 years, so we can only be pleased by such an
outcome,” said Serge Orru, CEO of WWF-France.
“The park will help preserve the habitat of endangered
species, such as the jaguar and the harpy eagle, which require
large territories to survive. And the protection of such
a large cover of tropical forest will also help reduce deforestation,
which significantly contributes to climate change worldwide.”
WWF, however, is concerned that territories inhabited by
indigenous communities in the south-western part of the
country were not included in the core protected area, but
left in a 1.3 million hectare buffer zone where human activities
and development will be allowed.
Any development in the buffer zone will have to fully respect
the way of life of indigenous people as well as the conservation
needs for the core zone, according to the global conservation
organization.
“The creation of the new park is a strong commitment for
the long-term conservation of French Guiana’s forests,”
said Laurent Kelle, Head of WWF’s office in French Guiana.
“But given the current situation in the field, only a serious
and effective cooperation with Brazil and Suriname will
help tackle illegal gold mining, and lead to responsible
management of the whole complex of protected areas in region.”
WWF, through its regional office in the Guianas — which
covers Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana — is working
in partnership with local NGOs, governmental agencies and
communities to address such environmental threats.
And through the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) programme
— a partnership between the Brazilian government, World
Bank, Global Environment Facility, German Development Bank,
Brazilian Biodiversity Fund, WWF and others — millions of
additional hectares of protected areas are being created
in the Amazon.
Béatrice Jounne, Press Officer
WWF-France
