Birding is a developing tourism feature in Guyana and there is reason why birding is catching on. There are more than 800 species of birds in Guyana and more is being spotted.

On March 26 for the fourth time only the White woodpecker was spotted in Guyana.

According to Vice President of the Guyana Amazon Tropical Bird Society Gajendra Nauth Narine, the rare species was spotted by a tourist Julia Freeman while on a birding trip under the guide of Guyana Feathers Friend, a local tour operator.

The bird was spotted in the vicinity of the Mahaicony/ Abary area.

In the tourism circle Gajendra is known as “ Andy”. He said this sighting is the first classified existence of the bird in the country.

It was first spotted in 2003 in West Demerara. The second time it was spotted in the vicinity of the military base at Timehri and last October it was spotted in the Abary area also.

Tourism in Guyana is associated with hinterland beauty, thus the focus has been on developing hinterland areas for tourism purposes. This has resulted in many communities preserving and conserving their environments and natural habitat for birds, flora and fauna; all to boost tourism activities.

“ For example it was because of birding and the need to pay attention to our birdlife and its natural habitat and our diverse animal life that has resulted in our large expanse of standing forest,” Narine said.

Andy feels however that should the same focus be placed on tourism in the city, the coastal environment would be much enhanced.

And he feels there is reason for a coastal tourism focus to be developed.

“ If we emphasize Georgetown and the coast as a tourism venue, I believe we will pay a lot more emphasis to our environment but because we tend to believe that tourists come and just pass through the city and go to the hinterland, we don’t pay enough attention to our environment as we should,” he said.

excerpt from Guyana Times