The International Day for Biological Diversity:Biodiversity and Agriculture 22 May 2008

Guyana

Guyana

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as National Focal Point to the Convention on Biological Diversity, coordinated several activities in observance of International Day for Biological Diversity. The focus this year was stakeholder involvement and collaboration with Government, Non-Government and Private Sector Agencies. It was a useful approach that resulted in the success of all planned activities, since these agencies shared their financial and technical resources. The largest contributor to Guyana’s GDP is the agriculture sector which provided the opportunity to involve a wide section of Guyanese citizens, including schools and the general public.

Activities organized to commemorate IBD were: (1) Two primary school talks and one secondary school talk; (2) Agricultural biodiversity exhibition; (3) Presentation to the Cyril Potter College of Education (Teacher Training Centre) students; (4) Tour of the National Agricultural Research Institute plant nursery in Soesdyke for secondary school students; (5) Essay competition for the Guyana School of Agriculture students; (6) Appearance on the Guyana Today television morning show; (7) A televised panel discussion on agricultural biodiversity; and (8) Preparation of a brochure and press release.

For a detailed report, please see here.