The North Rupununi Wetlands

The North Rupununi is an extraordinary natural area in southern Guyana that, for the last thirty years, has been isolated from the public eye. The North Rupununi extends from the Siparuni River to the Kanuku Mountains and from the Essequibo River to the Brazilian border.

The area was well known in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it received visits from David Attenborough, Gerald Durrell, Evelyn Waugh and Charles Waterton; all of whom wrote eloquently of their experiences.The North Rupununi is today recognized again as an astonishing haven for wildlife. However, neighbouring Roraima State – with one of the fastest growing human populations in Brazil – now economically dwarfs the Rupununi. The recent upgrading of the Georgetown-Lethem road and completion of the Takutu Bridge opens new economic opportunities that may bring rapid change to the highly sensitive savannah, forest, and wetland ecosystems of the Rupununi.

Copyright © 2013 Graham WatkinsOver the coming years, it will be important to effectively marry development and conservation interests in the Rupununi to ensure culturally, socially and ecologically sustainable development that builds on the unique natural and social capital of the area. This will only be possible if all involved parties work together towards the same shared dream of the future; this web site is dedicated to helping people work together for such a Rupununi.

Graham Watkins, Pete Oxford and Renee Bish have finished their new book Rupununi: Rediscovering a Lost World describing the Rupununi in a similar format to their 2009 book, Both Sides of the Coin on the Galapagos Islands. It is available from Amazon.comConservation InternationalNHBS in the UK, and the Iwokrama Offices in Guyana. Learn More »

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