Conservation International Guyana
Conservation International Guyana (CI-Guyana) is the Guyanese arm of Conservation International, working in Guyana since 1989. The organization runs offices in Georgetown and Lethem and focuses on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Its work includes supporting the Wai-wai community of Kanashen in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region, planning protected areas, forest monitoring for REDD+, reducing mercury use in gold mining, and mapping mangroves.
CI-Guyana collaborates with government bodies and partners across the country. In Guyana’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2012–2020), CI-Guyana worked with the Protected Areas Commission and the University of Kent to develop Marxan-based methods for spatially mapping ecosystems and biodiversity for protected-area planning. An independent assessment described CI-Guyana as a key facilitating partner in the Guyana–Norway REDD+ programme.
In 2014, CI-Guyana’s vice president highlighted Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy as a model for carbon-limited development that still supports sustainable growth, noting broad public support for environmental protection. In 2017, Norway funds were channeled through CI-Guyana to support a second phase of forest monitoring under the MRVS, part of REDD+. In 2018, CI-Guyana launched the El Dorado Gold Project to reduce mercury use in artisanal and small-scale mining and promote mercury-free mining practices, including educational forums in Mahdia.
In Kanashen, Region Nine, the community gained land title in 2004 and designated the area as a Community Owned Conservation Area in 2007. The government gazetted it as the Kanashen Amerindian Protected Area in 2017, covering about 648,567 hectares. A management plan for 2022–2026 outlines collaboration among the community, government agencies, and CI-Guyana, including consultations, ranger training, and baseline biological surveys.
CI-Guyana maintains a presence in the Rupununi and southern Guyana to support community conservation and protected-area management in Region Nine. The organization also works on mangrove mapping with the Mangrove Department and supports protected-area planning using biodiversity mapping and Marxan. It helps implement the MRVS forest monitoring system for REDD+ and participates in the Guiana Shield Initiative, which supports forest monitoring and verification for REDD+ in Guyana and Suriname.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:36 (CET).