The findings were presented last week at the Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit held at the International Convention Centre. According to a Department of Public Information release, an international team of scientists and Indigenous experts surveyed the 1.5 million-hectare Acarai-Corentyne Corridor, in southeastern Guyana, discovering more than 30 species new to science and dozens more never before recorded in the country.

Guyana, a small country on the Caribbean coast of South America, has succeeded in preserving 99% of its rainforests. Many of these roadless expanses, however, have not been explored and their biodiversity hardly known. Stretching more than half the length of the country, the Acarai-Corentyne Corridor was one such ‘unexplored biodiversity hotspot’ at the time of the November 2024 expedition, the release stated.

The large multidisciplinary team documented over 600 species of plants and over 1215 species of vertebrates. Led by the Field Museum of Natural History and Guyana’s Protected Areas Commission, the biodiversity survey deployed scientific field techniques and technologies like environmental DNA sampling alongside time-tested Indigenous collection methods like poison vine fishing.

Also, the team documented local ecological knowledge in collaboration with the nearby Indigenous communities of Masakeñarî, Parabara and Cashew Island, recognizing the long-standing Indigenous stewardship of this landscape. The team’s detailed biological, geological, and cultural findings serve as a foundational document for conservation policy, scientific research, and community-based stewardship in the region.

The Summit in Georgetown also launched the Global Biodiversity Alliance, a group of countries, international organizations, private sector representatives, and local communities aiming for innovative solutions to biodiversity conservation. The Alliance aims to unlock greater biodiversity financing through better tools to monitor and measure biodiversity. One such tool is a dashboard built by Yale University’s Map of Life, which showcases the results of the Acarai-Corentyne Corridor rapid inventory combined with advanced modeling of species across South America. (Kaieteur News)