An approach to designing a systematic protected area system in Guyana Research Paper

Guyana is a small country on the northern coast of South America. It presents a unique 
opportunity to establish a representative system of protected areas to conserve its 
enormous diversity of habitats and species. Guyana has a small population concentrated 
on the coast and has only recently opened its natural resources to exploitation, so most 
of its environments are intact. This article describes an approach to designing a 
protected area system in Guyana based on patterns of species distribution. Little was 
known about the distribution of biodiversity prior to a study conducted in 1995. The 
biodiversity patterns known from that study, and reported here, are based on many 
person-years of collecting and consolidating data from collections. As well as outlining 
an analytical approach, the article discusses the real-world constraints on establishing 
protected areas. Other aspects of this study are still underway and include comparisons 
of different surrogates of biodiversity as a basis for conservation planning, analysis of 
different threats to biodiversity, and assessments of conservation priorities at different 
spatial scales.

Area of interest: Guyana 

Year:1999