The Iwokrama River ecotourism Lodge is under the management of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development. Working with neighbouring indigenous communities and developing strong relationships with key stakeholders, the Iwokrama River Lodge has been responsible for 371,681hectares of Guyana’s pristine rainforest, implementing regular checkpoints, monitoring and reducing illegal activities.
The two main issues were maintaining a low ecological footprint and minimising Illegal activities. These three main methods were implemented: Collaborate with Neighbouring Communities, Implemented a Zoning Process and The Implementation of Checkpoints and Monitoring Activities. Various benefits have been identified, e.g. In collaboration with the GPF, Iwokrama developed a Memorandum of Understanding with relevant organisations to collaborate in areas that will aid in the protection of the rainforest, several awards received or Iwokrama has fostered collaborative relationships with 20 neighbouring Indigenous communities to propel the work that they do.
Keywords: Eco-tourism, Monitoring system, Collaboration, Sustainable, Ecotourism Sustainability Indicators & Monitoring, Natural resource protection, Landscape & Scenery, Land use & planning
