Damon
Farber Associates'
main involvement in the Kaieteur National Park Master Plan development
was to help lay the framework for the larger National Ecotourism
Development Plan for the Republic of Guyana.
Guyana’s
only National Park, Kaieteur, encompasses a 5 square mile area around
Kaieteur Falls. With a shear drop of 822 feet, (nearly 5 times higher
than Niagara), Kaieteur Falls, (below) is a world-class attraction
and serves as a magnet for future eco-tourism.
The key to successful park design and management is the use of a
planning and management concept: (LAC) Limits of Acceptable Change
developed and championed by the National Park Service. The prime
objective of the Kaieteur National Park Master Plan was to minimize
human impacts by making responsible design decisions.
The primary users of the park will be Ecotourists looking to experience
an essentially undisturbed wilderness in a non-consumptive manner.
Site Planning for an Ecotourist Visitor Center revolves around sustainable
resource use, minimal construction impact, natural resource management
and remote accessibility. All key factors in the design process.
The Master Plan, (image 2) calls for the establishment of the Ecotourism
Visitor Center from which revenues would help spur acquisition of
additional National Park Land, research, and logging/mining reclamation.
A planned 222 mile expansion of the park would preserve Kaieteur
Falls for generations.
The
aggressive multi-year phased plan also calls for establishment of
zoning guidelines for development and more strict regulation of
damaging mining and logging practices, which have a detrimental
impact on the fragile & diverse ecosystems in the region.
