by Maxwell Radwin on 21 May 2024
- A series of ongoing road projects traveling over 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the capital of Georgetown to the city of Lethem, in the south, are supposed to improve access to more rural parts of Guyana while facilitating international trade, most notably with Brazil.
- But the project also crosses sensitive wetlands and Indigenous communities, raising concerns about how the government will manage future development there.
- Some of the roads cross through the Rupununi wetlands and Iwokrama Rainforest, where a unique watershed connects the Amazon River and Essequibo River basins.
Ongoing upgrades to roads through the southern part of Guyana have many conservationists on high alert, as the projects could impact forest and savanna ecosystems as well as Indigenous communities.
A series of roads traveling over 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the capital of Georgetown to the city of Lethem, in the south, are supposed to improve access to more rural parts of Guyana while facilitating international trade, most notably with Brazil. But the project also crosses sensitive wetlands and Indigenous communities, raising concerns about how the government will manage future development there.
“Throughout the Amazon, when roads are developed, they pose threats to natural ecosystems that they’re passing through and developed through, especially when the right approaches aren’t taken,” Aiesha Williams, WWF conservation director in Guyana, told Mongabay.
The project expands upon the already paved roads in some areas while creating entirely new ones in other parts. In total, it will extend from 121 kilometers (75 miles) from the capital Georgetown to Liden then continue to the towns of Mabura Hill and Lethem. The project also includes around 45 bridges, according to official comments made to local media. An alternative road between Toka and Lethem is also under consideration.