?ITTO financing may soon ?dry up? ? Agri. MinisterA felling demonstration on Monday at the Forestry Training Centre Incorporated at Mariwa,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysshare.us@#$%&/]Wholesale China Jerseys[/url], Cuyuni River.The contribution of the private sector to the Forestry Training Centre Incorporated is very minimal, and, as such, interventions are being sought to strategise the way forward for the centre.The Agriculture Minister, who has responsibility for forestry, made the comment during a visit to the centre at Mariwa, Cuyuni River on Monday.He noted that a plan needs to be developed,[url=http://www.wholesalejerseyssale.us@#$%&/]Wholesale China Jerseys[/url], since the current source of funding from the International Tropical Timber Organization, of which Guyana is a member, will soon ?dry up.?At present, the minister said, ?tremendous? resources are being pumped into the facility by the Guyana Forestry Commission, to ensure that the knowledge and guidance is offered to the sector to maintain Guyana?s status as a world class leader in sustainable forestry management.He said that efforts are being made to have the centre grow, in order to be responsive to the changing needs of the requirements of the forestry sector.As a result of the work of the centre, close to 1000 local persons have been trained, he noted, adding that it is obvious that those skills are being deployed since there has been significant improvement in forestry practices in extraction.Addressing the issue of the world financial meltdown and its possible impacts on the centre and, more specifically, the forestry sector, Persaud said that there is an analysis of the situation.?We are currently conducting an analysis,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysfan.us@#$%&/]Authentic Jerseys Cheap[/url], and that analysis is at a very basic stage, but based on what we have heard, certainly some of the sources of financing that we might have been looking at previously might experience some sort of difficulties,? the minister said.This,[url=http://www.nfljerseyscheaponline.us@#$%&/]Cheap Jerseys From China Online[/url], he said, will not have any severe impact on the training centre, but the wider forestry sector may experience some complexities as a result of the meltdown.He said that the housing crisis in the United States may result in the reduction of demand for forestry products.This financial situation will not, he added, affect the GFC role and the subsidiary of the GFC in servicing the sector.At the centre, Reduced Impact Logging operation is being taught.Participants at the institution not only witness demonstrations and follow lectures, but are given a ?hands-on? experience.During the visit on Monday,[url=http://www.salecheapjerseys.us@#$%&/]NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap[/url], a demonstration of good directional felling and skidding practices was carried out.Directional felling allows for the feller to throw the tree in a position from where the skidder can extract it without any difficulty whilst causing minimal damages.Commissioner of Forestry, James Singh, during the visit, said that the centre is a regionally recognised institution, as persons from Grenada,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysauthenticonline.us@#$%&/]Cheap Jerseys NFL[/url], Belize, Suriname and Trinidad have been trained there.Whilst Government is the major funder for the institution, which costs some $36M per year to maintain, additional funding is obtained from the ITTO, the United States Government and other donor agencies.People who are trained at the facility have to pay a minimal fee, but Singh said that the Commission is looking towards having the institution self-sustainable.?In terms of the upgrading of the skills of the operators, that is done continuously, and we are a partner in the Tropical Forestry Foundation, which has links to other schools in Indonesia, Brazil, and other parts of the world.?The Economic/Trade advisor from within the United States Embassy in Guyana, James Plasman, also visited the centre on Monday.He told the media that he is very impressed with the way the operations are being carried out in Guyana, in terms of maintaining while at the same time benefiting from the forestry resources.The objective of Monday?s visit was to observe the procedures of Reduced Impact Logging as they relate to timber harvesting operations.(Tusika Martin)