GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Oct 31, CMC – King Charles III has praised Guyana for preserving a significant portion of its forest cover, describing the achievement as an example of how countries can protect their natural heritage while pursuing economic development.
“You’ve managed to keep an enormous percentage of your forests. That is an incredible achievement and, of course, deserves to be rewarded,” the King said on Friday on the sidelines of the Second Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA) Conference and Financing Forum.
He described Guyana’s forests as a “wonderful example” of natural heritage and said the country’s conservation efforts deserved recognition.
The monarch recalled his involvement in the early development of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy through his Rainforest Project and the International Sustainability Unit, which helped bring together partners to demonstrate how forests could be conserved while supporting development.
He expressed hope that Guyana’s approach could be replicated elsewhere, including through agroforestry and mixed approaches to land management, as countries confront growing threats to nature and biodiversity.
King Charles said nature’s value extended beyond its economic contribution, describing it as “totally priceless”, and warned that continued deforestation and biodiversity loss threatened human health and future generations.
“People forget it’s not just nature out there; we are part of that. And what we’re doing at the moment, I think, in endlessly going on with deforestation and everything else, is totally prejudicing our future and other people’s futures and our health,” he said.
He also congratulated President Irfaan Ali on establishing the Global Biodiversity Alliance and said he looked forward to seeing how Guyana continued to balance economic development, nature regeneration and environmental protection.
The King’s comments came during the final day of his two-day state visit to Guyana, which ended with a visit to the Kingston Seawall, where he was briefed on the country’s mangrove restoration programme.
He also met participants in the Wilton Park Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Initiative Dialogue, which is examining practical approaches to sustainable urban development ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
During the visit, he attended a state reception at State House marking 60 years of relations between Guyana and the United Kingdom, paid tribute to fallen service personnel at the Georgetown Memorial and visited Promenade Gardens.
He also met members of the National Toshaos Council and attended a reception with British businesses and local stakeholders to discuss trade and investment partnerships.
The visit was King Charles’s first to Guyana as monarch and his first since February 2000, when he visited as Prince of Wales. He has supported Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy since its launch in 2009.
The King is travelling to Antigua and Barbuda, where he will join Queen Camilla for CHOGM 2026 from November 1 to 4.
CMC/ed/2026