Launch of the ECOSEO project for improved knowledge of ecosystems on the Guiana Shield

From 12 to 14 March 2019, the workshop to launch the ECOSEO project (Ecosystemic Services Observatory) was held in Cayenne in presence of WWF-French Guyana and associated project partners.

The overall objective of the ECOSEO project is to preserve ecosystems and the services they provide at the scale of the Guiana shield (Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana and the Amapá state in Brazil). To reach such an ambitious goal, the project shall perform: collection of data: production/updating of land-use maps encompassing the whole Guiana shield, production of ecosystem accounts by the use of available data. The production of accounts will be using the UN-approved ENCA methodology.

The project is implemented by ONFI and funded by WWF-France  ,co-funded by Programe Interreg de Coopération Amazonie (PCIA)  and byOffice de l’Eau de Guyane.

ONFI will provide experts in cartography, remote sensing and ecosystem accounting over an 18-month period. The project will also involve a number of partners: the Guiana Territorial Collectivity and Prefecture, ONF Guiana, Guiana Amazonian Park, the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Secretariat of the environment for the state of Amapá in Brazil (SEMA-AP), the Universities of Hanovre and Guiana, the SSB (Surinam) and WWF Guianas.

By this, the ECOSEO project sets out to promote a transnational approach in view of improving the territory´s ecosystem management. The biodiversity on the Guiana shield is indeed exceptional and its forests are intact in their larger part. In order to preserve these resources, it is of vital importance to improve the knowledge of the wealth held in the ecosystem and the ways to quantify it.

The account of Laurent Kelle, WWW-Frances´s representative in Guiana, on the local news channel

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