The Guiana Shield Eco-Region includes the three Guianas (Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana). It is a region that is unique due to the richness of its biodiversity and its largely uninhabited rainforests. It is therefore of high national and international significance.

All three governments are committed to sustainable economic development and the conservation and management of their wildlife resources. Each country has its own environmental legal framework and trade controls that govern the use and harvest of its biodiversity. Guyana and Suriname remain the only two countries in South America still exporting significant quantities of wildlife. Suriname and Guyana derive a significant financial income in hard currency (US dollars) and jobs from the export of fauna and flora (Table 1).

This report attempts to review and compare three countries with three very different approaches to wildlife use and conservation management. Complex issues and contradictions are involved in the wildlife and plant export trade, particularly when three countries are compared. The Guiana Region is only that ­ a region and not a union. While small in size and in close parallel proximity the three countries are quite independent from one another and hitherto there has been little cooperation between them, at least as far the trade in wildlife is concerned.

Suriname

Suriname's varied habitats are home to 668 species of birds, 184 species of mammals, 152 species of reptiles, 95 species of amphibians, more than 300 species of freshwater fishes, and at least 4,500 species of flowering plants. Historically Suriname has been regarded as a leader in conservation and forestry management in the region. A total of 11 Nature Reserves, one Nature Park and three multiple-use management areas existed in May 2001.

The Suriname Forest Service (LBB) under the Ministry of Natural Resources is responsible for the implementation of the laws governing the country's natural resources. It places a high priority on conservation and sustainable development.

Suriname has scrupulously implemented CITES regulations since it ratified the Convention in 1981. The Permit Office of the Nature Conservation Division goes by the book. Realistic voluntary quota levels have been set by Suriname for both CITES and non-CITES species. Even the wildlife exporters rarely fill the quotas set for most species (Tables, 2, 3, 9, 10). Quota levels and FOB prices are reviewed at regular intervals by the Permit Office and reset if necessary. Today 85 birds, 9 mammals, 6 amphibians, 5 turtles, 7 lizards, and 4 reptile species are listed ­ a small portion of the country's rich biodiversity. The total quota for birds is for 25,232 specimens but in 2000, for instance, only 7,316 were actually exported (Table 2d). Of the 85 bird species listed on the quota list, specimens of only 63 species were actually exported in 2000 whereas specimens of all the reptile and amphibian species listed were exported with only two exceptions (Table 2d).

The number of licensed traders has gone from 7 to 25 in 8 years ­ a fact which is deeply resented by the established wildlife traders who view this as unwelcome competition.

Suriname has a vast and remote interior where the Game Law regulations do not apply. The indigenous people rely on bush meat for food and on the trapping of wild species for cash. Some species are both hunted for food and trapped for export (Table 8).

Several instances of smuggling were observed and reported. Psittacines, songbirds and reptiles are smuggled between all three countries, some in significant quantities. The 12 LBB/NB wildlife enforcement officers in Paramaribo and two in Nickerie mainly enforce hunting and nature reserve regulations. A major obstacle to adequate law enforcement is the lack of transport and fuel.

There is fragmented government agency oversight. Different ministries are involved in wildlife management and wildlife export from the issuing of commercial licenses to traders, licensing of traders to apply for export permits, to paying fees and taxes, to Customs controls, and finally to veterinary inspection.

No recent scientific surveys in the wild of key export trade species such as parrots and reptiles have been made. LBB/NB has set this as a top priority in the future and requires assistance to implement this.

The medicinal plant trade appears to be completely undocumented and uncontrolled ­ we received conflicting reports that "large amounts of medicinal plants were being smuggled out of Suriname on a weekly basis" while the authorities told us that "medicinal or traditional plants" were not exported "in significant quantities".

Recommendations for Suriname
The export trade and permit tracking of CITES-listed species appears to be well controlled in Suriname. The main problem with the wildlife trade in Suriname is lack of funds for enforcement -- which is minimal outside of Paramaribo. Funds are also urgently required to equip and pay enforcement personnel competitive salaries. Other problems include: updating legislation, appointing new members to re-activate the Nature Conservation Commission, and establishing communication lines with the Environmental Protection Agency and its Permit Office in Guyana.

Hunting regulations under the Game Law of 1954 need to be revamped as soon as possible to cover the whole of Suriname, including the territorial sea and economical zone and to protect CITES-listed species in Suriname.
Cooperative, revenue-based, community wildlife programs based on consultations with stakeholders in key trapping areas such as Apura, Tepu and Kwamalasamoetoe need to be established.

Export quotas and FOB prices set by Suriname and Guyana should be harmonized to discourage smuggling between both countries. Zero-Quota or protected species of one country should not appear on the export quota list of the other.

Guyana

The Cooperative Republic of Guyana is the largest of the three Guianas in size and population. With a population approaching 740,000 inhabitants in an area of 216,000 km_, it is, like Suriname, one of the least populated tropical countries in the world.

Guyana has been a very active exporter of wildlife for decades, particularly psittacines. Not surprising that there have been charges of over-exploitation and rampant smuggling from Venezuela. The CITES Secretariat has twice imposed a moratorium on the export of wildlife until adequate wildlife legislation was established to control the wildlife trade.

Now strong new legislation is in place. The Environmental Protection Act of 1996 and the Species Protection Regulations of September 1999 have completely changed the infrastructure of Wildlife Management and permitting in Guyana. However, the draft Wildlife Management and Conservation Regulations, which deal with broader wildlife management issues, are not yet in force and are currently undergoing consultation with the various stakeholders.

Guyana has been one of the major exporters of parrots in South America. The capture of parrots make up the majority of the income for trappers, middlemen and exporters. When the quota system was established in 1987, they were extremely high, roughly ten times higher than Suriname's export rate.

Guyana has also specialized in the non-CITES reptile trade: 21 species of CITES-listed reptiles and 38 non-CITES species of reptiles are listed on the quotas. In 1999, Guyana exported over 36,000 non-CITES reptiles, while Suriname exported 12,286 individuals of 22 species of non-CITES reptiles.

The number of fully licensed traders increased between 1993 and 2001 from 9 to 28 ­ as in Suriname (Table 7 which lists 36 traders, some not fully licensed). Now the EPA has also placed a "freeze" on the licensing of new traders. As in Suriname, Amerindian communities in the interior trap and harvest the wildlife and sell it to middlemen. It is a preferred seasonal source of cash revenue. We received many reports of smuggling from traders, middlemen and biologists both in Guyana and Suriname.

Recreational hunting is common along the coast, especially for ducks and sea birds. Unlike Suriname, hunters are not licensed and hunting is not regulated yet in Guyana. As in Suriname there are no hunting regulations, enforcement or bag limits in the interior.

Recommendations for Guyana
Export Quotas have been increased for 2001, including the lifting of Zero Quotas for certain CITES-listed parrots (Table 10). These should be reviewed. Export quotas and FOB prices set by Suriname and Guyana should be harmonized to discourage smuggling between both countries. Species, which are endemic and protected in one country and only have tiny populations in the other should not appear on the Quota list of the other country.

French Guiana

French Guiana is the smallest of the three Guianas but it also has the same rich biodiversity, the same remote and forested interior (Table 1). French Guiana, unlike Suriname and Guyana, is not an independent country but an overseas department of France ­ a piece of France located in South America. As such it does not have a separate legal framework but comes under French and European Union jurisdiction and law enforcement.

International commerce in endangered species is covered by the law of 1986 and the amended law of 1 March 1993 and applies only to French Guiana. This decree, for all intents and purposes, forbids the capture, killing, holding, export, transit, import, sale or resale of all wild vertebrate fauna and wild flora occurring in French Guiana, including their parts and derivatives.

There are no hunting licenses and there is no closed hunting season in French Guiana. Hunting bag limits were set in 1975 but include, for instance, 2 tapirs per hunter per outing, a species that may be then sold in licensed bushmeat restaurants. The ONC chief Wildlife Manager confided that the present wildlife management and open hunting season regulations, in particular, were not compatible with the long-term sustainable use of some species like the tapir and the Howler monkey. He thinks that hunting regulations and bag limits should be updated and amended.

Both the ONC and Customs officials we interviewed reported several recent smuggling incidents by German tourists involving Dendrobatid frogs, rare reptiles and hummingbirds.

Recommendations for French Guiana
Update hunting regulations and bag limits. Review the status of certain species, which are subject to considerable hunting pressure.

Quotas. When the wildlife export data of Suriname and Guyana are compared, differences are clear.
1. Suriname has much lower quotas and far lower realized export figures than Guyana (Tables 2, 6) but higher FOB prices.
2. Guyana and Suriname have zero quotas for different species (Table 10).
3. It might be wise to consider setting a harvest quotum for each harvest area as well so as to insure that the harvest areas, some which have been used for years, are not being over harvested, particularly when local hunting for bushmeat is also putting pressure on the resource (Table 8).
4. Quotas for the capture of wildlife, and particularly parrots, should be established on the basis of the best information available and not be based on average exports over a given period.

Revenues. The wildlife trade is a lucrative business, but the revenue is not distributed equally. Communities must be involved in managing their wild populations including deciding the numbers of animals trapped and setting a fair market price for their wildlife.
Lack of revenue affects the other end of the spectrum too -- Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency keeps the permit fees and taxes imposed on wildlife trade revenues, the Suriname's Permit Office does not and now has severe budgetary constraints.

International cooperation: To date there has been little cooperation between Suriname and Guyana over wildlife trade issues. Smuggling does take place in both directions and these smuggling routes are well established and some of the offenders, well known. Clearly a monitoring program needs to be set up along the border between Suriname and Guyana. Cooperation between the traders' associations in both countries may help manage the resource more effectively and promote cooperation.

Monitoring: A closer monitoring of the wildlife trade, both legal and illegal, needs to be done in both Suriname and Guyana. This will require a network based on cooperation and trust at all levels and involve all the stakeholders from the "bottom up" as well a close working relationship with the governmental agencies and ministries involved.