The Ministry of Natural Resources has inked an agreement with a local consultancy firm which is readying Guyana to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).

This is the first agreement to be signed under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) Project and aims to develop a Grievance and Redress Mechanism (GRM), the Ministry said in a statement today. The GRM is the national coordinating structure and procedures to receive, process and investigate issues affecting stakeholders/communities under the REDD+ implementation process.

The contract has been awarded to The Consultancy Group (TCG) and will be completed within six months. It was signed on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Brickdam, by Permanent Secretary Joslyn McKenzie and TCG’s Managing Director Timothy McIntosh.

The ministry said GRM is one of the most important pillars of the REDD+ readiness process and is based on engagement and dialogue among stakeholders in a transparent environment.

FCPF is a global partnership of governments, businesses, civil society, Indigenous Peoples and Forest-Dependent communities focused on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, forest carbon stock conservation, the sustainable management of forests, and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (activities commonly referred to as REDD+).

In Guyana, FCPF is being executed in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under a US$3.8 million technical cooperation agreement.