The Kansas-sized country of Guyana, formerly known as British Guiana and the only English-speaking nation in South America, held elections on November 28, 2011, and voted in a new president, Donald Ramotar. This marked the end of 12 years in office for President Bharrat Jagdeo, under whose leadership Guyana became a global leader in calling attention to the incredible importance of tropical forests in the global battle to mitigate climate change. I would like to pay tribute to him here because what he has accomplished in the global arena has been truly exceptional and should be brought to the world's attention.

I have been working in the Guiana Shield region of South America for 36 years now; as a rainforest specialist, I was attracted to this part of Amazonia because of its vast expanses of pristine rainforest, the largest extent of undisturbed rainforest anywhere in the world. Conservation International (CI) has had programs in Guyana and the neighboring country of Suriname since 1991, and we first met with President Jagdeo shortly after he took office in 1999. He was only 35 at the time, but we were impressed from the first moment with his intellect, his charm and his[...]

[Published in GreenNews - Read the original article]