Start with livelihoods, rights, and river health. In Guyana’s Rupununi, a living river means fish move with the floods, wildlife returns, and families can earn from nature-based work. Yet rivers also carry hidden risks. Pollution can move through fish and up the food chain. When it builds in top predators, it warns of trouble for…
In early 2024, Roraima declared a humanitarian emergency due to drought, and more than 4,000 fires broke out at once. Key rivers fell to historic lows, including the Rio Branco, which reached -15 centimeters. The same Rupununi–Roraima corridor links Guyana’s Rupununi with Brazil’s Roraima across savannahs, wetlands, and floodplains. Because of that, everyday systems—river travel,…
An oil boom meets a flood-pulse ecosystem Guyana’s 2015 offshore oil discovery has unleashed an extraordinary commodity boom, making roads, large-scale agriculture, and mining realities for the Rupununi. As in all past LAC commodity booms, national decision-makers face a core challenge: how to capture the windfall to ensure durable benefits. But the Rupununi is not…
Historical Narrative, Global Standing, and Policy Stakes I was the director of the Charles Darwin Foundation from 2004 to 2008. When I interviewed for the role in 2003, I was met by barbed wire and the threat of Molotov cocktails. Between 2003 and 2007, governance broke down as conflicts over fisheries escalated, alongside rapid tourism…
Arapaima—also known as Oma or Warapai—is one of the largest fish in the Amazon and one of the endangered giants that characterize the Rupununi. Despite more than 25 years of management work, the species remains threatened. Arapaima captures a central conservation-development challenge: supporting strong local livelihoods while safeguarding the long-term sustainability of species and habitats….
A launch post for rupununi.org and the blog series on conservation and sustainable development in Guyana’s Rupununi. Guyana’s Rupununi is no longer ‘out of the public eye.’ New national priorities are emerging. New markets are developing. New infrastructure is shifting the interior from the periphery of national planning to the center of national ambition. The…
