Guyana’s National Protected Areas System (NPAS) has been in the making for over 80 years, beginning with the creation of the Kaieteur National Park (KNP) in 1929. At that time Guyana boasted the first national park in the Amazon region, and was one of only three countries in South America to have a protected area (PA). Since then, Guyana has taken a measured approach to protected areas development, with the country’s second oldest PA, The Iwokrama Rainforest Reserve, being formally established in 1996. 

In 2011 the PA Act was made law and provided for the protection and conservation of Guyana’s natural heritage and natural capital, the creation, management and financing of a national system of protected areas and the maintenance of ecosystem services of national and global importance including climate regulation. Shortly thereafter, two new protected areas, the Kanuku Mountains Protected Area (KMPA) and Shell Beach Protected Area (SBPA) were declared following decades of preparatory work with local communities and other stakeholders. The largest and first ever indigenous owned PA, Kanashen Amerindian Protected Area (KAPA) was added to the NPAS in 2017. Also included in the system are four urban parks; the Botanical Gardens, Zoological Park, National Park and Joe Vieira Park. The PAs together with the urban parks, accounts for approximately 8.4% of the country’s land area.