Rupununi Rediscovering a Lost World
Rupununi Rediscovering a Lost World
Text Graham Watkins Photography Pete Oxford and ReneĂŠ Bish Foreword HRH The Prince of Wales Introductory texts Russell A. Mittermeier and Yolanda Kakabadse
Contents
Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales
To my mother, Tonina, in remembrance of Colyn’s love of Guyana’s wilderness.
Introductory texts
Graham Watkins
Russell A. Mittermeier, President of Conservation International Yolanda Kakabadse, President of WWF International Rupununi, A Personal View by Pete Oxford
Together, the authors dedicate this book to all Guyanese, especially those who live in the Rupununi. They will determine the fate of this extraordinary place that nature has built over millions of years
vii
ix xiii xv
1
Setting the Scene
1
2
The Lost World
19
3
Myriad Species
35
4
Land of Giants
137
5
Rupununi Makushi
165
6
El Dorado Explored
191
7
Booms and Busts
199
8
Sustaining a Way of Life: Komantu Iseru
221
Acknowledgements
238
Recommended literature and bibliography
240
Organisational contacts
242
Author biographies
244
The Essequibo’s black waters running over sand bars during the dry season, Iwokrama Forest stretching out from the river’s far bank.
A black piranha, Serrasalmus rhombeus.
Guyana is a truly exceptional country. Situated in northern South America
mega-economy to the Atlantic, reducing the transportation distances for
between Venezuela and Suriname, and bordered to the south by Brazil, it
Brazilian products by as much as five hundred kilometres. What is more,
covers 214,969 square kilometres (almost the size of Great Britain, and one
Brazilian entrepreneurs have shown an interest in developing large-scale
and a half times the size of New York State), yet has a human population
agro-industry in the Rupununi, which threatens to change the fragile
of just over three quarters of a million. It is particularly rich in biodiversity,
ecosystem there forever.
and has the second highest per cent coverage of rain forest on Earth, with
To its credit, the Brazilian government has taken major steps to protect
tropical rain forests covering 75 per cent of the country and remaining 85
its own natural habitats, with more than 50 per cent of the Brazilian Amazon
per cent intact. It also has some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere in
now protected in federal and state reserves and indigenous territories and
South America, with Kaieteur Falls being perhaps the most beautiful single
with major efforts to reduce deforestation. However, Guyana does not yet
waterfall on Earth, with the spectacular tepui landscape of the Pakaraima
have the means or the legal framework in place to do this at a Brazilian
Mountains, and with some of the most extensive and least disturbed
scale. Indeed, the lack of a fully-blown protected area network in Guyana,
mangrove and mudflat systems on the continent. However, although the
to assist in balancing the social and ecological threats, makes it difficult to
rain forests of Guyana have gotten a lot of attention of late, few realize that
set aside parks and reserves in the most vulnerable and biologically richest
Guyana also has one of the most important and most intact savanna systems
portions of the Rupununi. At this time, apart from the Iwokrama Forest in
in South America and indeed in the world. Located in the Rupununi, these
the north and the indigenous Wai-Wai Community-Owned Conservation
savannas are truly incomparable in many ways, although they are little
Area in the south, no other part of the Rupununi enjoys formal conservation
known. This is the main reason that we are delighted to foster and promote
actions. This leaves the Rupununi, and perhaps the entire country, extremely
the creation of this book dedicated to northern Rupununi that includes
vulnerable.
these wonderful grasslands. Lying at the interface between the Amazon to
Fortunately, Guyana has taken on a major international leadership
the south and the Guyanese rivers that flow north into the Atlantic, this is
role on environmental issues over the past five years. Under the visionary
perhaps the world’s last intact grassland that also supports large areas of
President Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyana has led the charge to show how important
forest within its borders, making it one of the biologically richer areas of the
High Forest Cover Low Deforestation (HFLD) rate countries are in the
continent. What is more, the Rupununi Region is home to several groups
global climate change scenario, with this charismatic president becoming
of indigenous people, notably the Makushi, Wapishana and Wai-Wai – with
perhaps the most visible spokesman on this vital issue. Simultaneously,
lifestyles intimately connected to their savanna and forest homes.
Guyana, again under President Jagdeo’s leadership, has been among the first
Sadly, although this region has remained largely intact up until now,
to develop and publicize a Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). This
it, like so many other parts of the tropical world, is now at risk. A new
strategy seeks to build a new economic model that focuses on investments in
road linking the Rupununi and the rapidly-growing state of Roraima in
carbon mitigation and adaptation activities replacing traditional economic
Brazil will soon be upgraded and run all the way to Georgetown on the
activities that lead to forest loss and increased carbon emissions. In return
Guyana coast. What is more, a bridge also spans the Takutu River on the
for such investments, the country would maintain its forests to provide the
Brazil/Guyana border, linking tiny Lethem on the Guyana side with the
global community with a major climate service – a premium value given the
much larger and ever-expanding city of Bonfim on the Brazilian side. The
level of intactness of the country’s ecosystems. This model was seen to be so
bridge and the soon-to-be-completed road will link Roraima and Brazil’s
attractive that the Government of Norway committed US$250 million over ix
five years to help Guyana implement it, and it is hoped that other developed
proposed for Guyana’s rain forests are taken into consideration before other
countries will contribute as well, both in the building stage and, eventually,
economic activities roll forward, especially ones that have had negative
in the purchase of credits through a carbon market.
environmental impacts elsewhere. Happily, the Rupununi is still largely
The LCDS is just one more example of the vision and leadership of
intact, leaving almost all conservation and development opportunities still
the Government and People of Guyana. Some fourteen years ago in 1996,
open, and enabling Guyana to demonstrate once again, its global leadership
President Cheddi Jagan legally established the Iwokrama International
in creating something new and truly exciting model.
Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development setting aside
By publishing Rupununi Rediscovering a Lost World, all of us involved
371,000 hectares of rain forest as the Iwokrama Forest and bringing to
hope to show how special and wonderful a place the Rupununi really is, and
fruition an idea first elaborated in 1989 by President Desmond Hoyte.
to engage all Guyanese and the rest of the world in ensuring that its natural
Half of this area was set aside as a wilderness preserve and the other half
wonders are maintained in perpetuity and that its development is carried
for the development of economies based on rain forest products. The
out in the most sustainable, enlightened, and productive manner possible.
Iwokrama Centre continues to the present day and stands as a monument
We hope that you enjoy this book and that you share our fascination with
to Guyana’s vision and its willing participation in maintaining a healthy
everything that makes the Rupununi so unique.
global environment. Up until now, however, most of the attention has focused on Guyana’s huge rain forest estate. The Rupununi savannas have long been little more than an afterthought as the world focused on the importance of Guyana’s rain forest. However, all the information now emerging indicates that the savanna, in many ways, is at least as important as the rain forest, and that it should receive similar attention. Its biodiversity values are high, its indigenous people are extraordinary, and it may even have carbon values
Russell A. Mittermeier President, Conservation International Vice-President, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
similar to the rain forest. Indeed, emerging data on below-ground carbon in grassland and savanna ecosystems indicates that they may compare favourably to the above-ground carbon biomass of the tropical rain forest. In addition, as this book points out, the Rupununi still remains to be fully explored scientifically. While we know a fair amount about the northern part of this region, very little is known about the region south of the Kanuku Mountains. Our organization, Conservation International, has long considered the Rupununi a priority and has carried out a number of scientific expeditions there, while simultaneously working with the government to create a major protected area in the Kanuku Mountains and developing a wide range of sustainable economic activities with indigenous communities. We are convinced that such exploration not only lays the groundwork for the most appropriate kinds of development, it is itself an important contributor to both the regional and the national economy. It is for all these reasons that we consider this book to be very timely. We very much believe that a balance can be struck between conservation and development in the Rupununi, and that it should be possible to design and practice integrated management of natural resources that brings wealth to local communities and to the country as a whole without destroying or degrading the resource – as sadly has happened in so many other parts of the world. However, to achieve a lasting and truly sustainable development model, one must first recognize the global importance of the Rupununi.
Communal plant hoppers (Homoptera) feed by sucking sap from plants.
Then one must ensure that appropriate protected areas and indigenous lands are established, and that new development options like the carbon model xi
The northern Rupununi has intrigued explorers, travellers, historians, and
This is the second publication by Graham Watkins and his colleagues, and
scientists for centuries, dating back to Sir Walter Ralegh’s search for the
complements their vibrant and intellectually stimulating book Galapagos:
mythical El Dorado. But for the past three decades this extraordinary region,
Both Sides of the Coin.
with its breathtaking landscape and astonishing wildlife, has been out of the public eye.
Rupununi Rediscovering a Lost World inspires WWF and other conservation agencies to continue their work to protect the global
Recently, however, with the construction of the Takutu River Bridge,
environment. It also reminds us that we need to be ever vigilant if we are
linking the Rupununi with Roraima in hinterland Brazil, there has been
to overcome the threats that confront humanity so that we can bequeath to
renewed interest in the region for its development potential and for the
our children a lasting legacy.
challenges that lie ahead in protecting its rich biological diversity and freshwater ecosystems. Graham Watkins, Pete Oxford, and Reneé Bish are to be congratulated for their groundbreaking effort to bring the beauty of this ecologically rich and once-forgotten tropical paradise to the eyes of the world. Rupununi Rediscovering a Lost World captures the splendour of the northern Rupununi, and should be compulsory reading for all – young and old – who care
Yolanda Kakabadse President, WWF International
about the world in which we live. The book’s expressive photographs depict the landscapes, wildlife, and aspects of life in this very special place. The text provides a range of useful information about the region, its history, geomorphology, hydrology, and demography, and evokes some of the mysteries and mystique of this “wild frontier.”
A fisherman holds up the skin of an adult arapaima.
xiii
Rupununi, A Personal View
I first came to the northern Rupununi with my wife, Reneé Bish, for six
Most are for dry season use only. The wet season changes everything: houses
weeks during 2005. We travel extensively throughout the world for our
are stranded on islands, roads turn to bogs of sucking mud, and the general
work and so, as with any other new destination, we worked hard, explored,
economy inflates as transport costs soar. Where we might talk about the
photographed, and then left, but we had loved it and were not ready to leave.
weather, a Rupununian will talk about water levels: “river low” – good fishing
Several years later when Graham, a friend of more than twenty years, invited
and certain roads open; “river more low” (going down) – fish coming back
us to collaborate on this, our second joint book project, we did not hesitate.
in, access improving; “river high” – more kabouras (sand flies), boats are
We were told, when in Guyana, that if we drank water from the creeks or ate
required for transport (which in turn opens new areas), and hunting is better
labba (paca), we would be back!
as animals retreat to the islands; “river more high” (coming up) – fish are
During my subsequent extended visits in 2009 and 2010, my thoughts on the Rupununi matured. A relationship evolved. The area became intoxicating.
The rivers are home to many dangers, from giant caimans, anacondas,
I was drawn into its unexplainable and inextricable web, its infectious
piranhas, stingrays, and electric eels to the mythical “water anteater.” Yet,
magnetism and allure. The spectacular wildlife, extraordinary biodiversity,
despite the threats, they are socially important, places to lime (hang out),
and incomparable scenery remain the same; jaguars, tapirs, giant river otters,
bathe, swim, play, and wash clothes, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles.
macaws, and black caimans are still readily seen.
A young boy, Natie Thomas, does a backflip into the Essequibo River.
“marching” upriver to spawn, and be careful which road you choose!
People here are very patriotic about their place in the world. It is one thing
What tugged at my emotions on these latter visits were the people. The
to be Guyanese but so much more to be from the Rupununi. There is a sense
area is dominated by Makushi Amerindians, and today I feel privileged to
of belonging. The people live hard, live rough, live tough, and party hard, too.
count many among my friends. They are a people who are quick to welcome
Sir Walter Ralegh may not have found “El Dorado” but El Dorado (the local
you into their culture; they have a sense of contentment, balance, connection,
brand of rum) has found the Rupununi. “Coast landers” and “white-men”
and quality of life. The area may be a vast expanse physically, yet it remains
are said to have soft skin.
small socially – the Rupununi is a network of friends with a high comfort
The variety of English spoken in the Rupununi is a local Creole. It is a
level among them and always with a space to tie a hammock – a respectful
unique treat within South America to be able to communicate with everyone
form of address used for elders, even those unrelated by blood being “Auntie”
in my native tongue, even though it took a while to fine-tune my ear. You
or “Uncle.”
do not shave out here; you shine your face. You do not take something with
The pace and approach to life in the Rupununi is foreign to the “developed”
you; you walk with it. Enough means more than enough. An angry man is
Western world. It is very relaxed. There is a sense of patience and tolerance,
vexed. A person, or guy, is a bannah. Just now means anything from right
the reality being that, no matter how hard you plan, there will always be
now to a long time hence. You do not leave, you beat out. It is a place where
something to deal with – you may have to wait for a day with your vehicle
fish stew is known as boiley boiley, where a blonde tourist is a girl with shiny
at the river for the water to go down to be able to cross, for example – “You
hair. Instead of “his” and “him” or “her” and “hers,” he and she are used. In
can’t fight life,” they tell me. However, if such a wait is called for, there will
Rupununi to go shopping is to pick up rations, and a machete is still referred
very soon be hammocks slung, freshly caught fish roasting on an open fire,
to as a cutlass, evoking days of old.
and everyone involved in a good gaff (conversation).
Monarch bicycles from Brazil were once the most common means of
Water levels dominate the way of life, especially in the savanna, a land
transport; today, as technology bludgeons the tranquillity of yesteryear,
of expansive vistas, with a freedom to roam. “Roads” criss-cross the plains.
they are left in the dust of off-road motorbikes. Land Rovers and Bedford xv
trucks were the veritable pioneers that opened up the savanna, when
The Makushi are a savanna people, living close to primary rainforest,
windscreens were a luxury. Today Land Rover skeletons pepper the
ite palm swamps, oxbow lakes, and meandering rivers. Industry is absent,
landscape, disintegrating back to nature, as brand-new Toyotas whistle
the air is clean, and the skies are big. Cattle, locally important, still dot the
past. With myriad roads and tracks, non-native travellers are quick to get
grasslands in a land where the cowboys are Indians. The lifestyle is pure,
lost. With the lack of signage to mark the way, distances are measured in
expansive and energised, raw and full.
hours and directions given by referencing trees, mountains, ponds, or past
“Progress,” from outside influence, is threatening to inundate the
events. Even by boat, a place is defined by the number of bends in the river
Rupununi like a colossal tsunami; rice, soy, commercial fishing, gold mining,
it takes to get there. There are no telegraph wires and poles; there are no
and oil all menace the equilibrium held so dear by so many. The Rupununi
roundabouts, traffic lights, or road signs (except for a sprawling vanguard
of today and yesterday may not be perfect – but it does come close! We hope
of a few bilingual signs as one enters Rupununi’s capital, the border town
that this book will help illuminate the treasures found here, and we also hope
of Lethem). With new, improved access in and out of Brazil, this affront to
that, unlike the riches of El Dorado, they will not be covered by a great flood.
a harmonious lifestyle is surely a sign of things to come. Today the Bedford trucks survive, negotiating the main axis road through the Iwokrama Forest that bursts out into the savanna, joining the dots between Georgetown and Lethem. Plying their trade between the coast and the “interior,” the trucks access places that the huge majority of Guyanese has neither ventured nor dared to venture into for fear of the unknown. No form of transport, however, no matter how big or small, can ever be too overloaded. Motorbikes carry whole families with baggage up front. Trucks swell with goods while bicycles
Pete Oxford Rupununi, Guyana 2010
buckle under extraordinary weight. Even the ubiquitous oxcarts that make frequent journeys from farm to market strain the yokes of the bullocks that pull them. Nevertheless, a true outback spirit pervades, no matter what you are driving: A Rupununian never passes by anyone broken down on the road without offering to help. The Makushi are a well-organised group and well informed; one might just as easily gaff with many individuals on the latest Wilbur Smith novel or world affairs as hear tales of ancient folklore. They love gatherings, where the best storyteller is king for the night. Dialogue is lubricated by kari – a fermented cassava beer – drunk freely; it helps loosen wicked jokes, which are shared long after nightfall. The sense of belonging is strong, and a village council that, in turn, is led by a toshao, or headman, directs the communities; as powerful as he is, however, important decisions are taken at the community level. Cassava, or manioc, is the main staple and is prepared in many forms, the most popular being farine, coarse flour that accompanies nearly all fish and meat dishes. It is a lot of work to prepare cassava, and households are upgrading, with appropriate technology: mechanical cassava graters harnessed, Heath Robinson, to discarded bicycles that provide the spin. People are at peace in the Rupununi. Houses are small but their inhabitants have a natural escape every day and still rely heavily on their environment as a resource. They do not seem to suffer the disease of avarice, which permeates the “developed” world, the vice being apparently tempered by the strongly held traditional values of their elders. There is a kind of gift economy in place
A nocturnal forager, the boat-billed heron (Cochlearius cochlearius) snaps up prey with its enlarged bill.
whereby a visitor will always be fed and watered for no charge.
xvii