GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Nov. 24 Guyana has offered to preserve its entire rain forest with control going to a British-led international group in return for economic aid.
The assistance would be used to convert the South American nation to a "green" economy, The Independent reported. President Bharrat Jagdeo said he is looking for both technical help and backing for private-sector development.
"We are a country with the political will and a large tract of standing forest," Jagdeo said. "I'm not a mercenary, this is not blackmail and I realize there's no such thing as a free lunch. I'm not just doing this just because I'm a good man and want to save the world, I need the assistance."
Guyana, located between Venezuela and Brazil, is the only English-speaking country in South America because of its history as a British colony. Most of its million people live near the coast, while its interior rain forests are the size of Britain.
In 1989, Guyana deeded 1 million acres of rain forest to the Commonwealth of Nations as a reserve.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
