Guyana's President flies in as Britain considers rainforest offer

The Government says it is considering an offer from Guyana to secure the future of its entire standing forest in return for a package of green technology and development aid from Britain.

Guyana's President, Bharrat Jagdeo, has proposed placing his country's entire 50 million-acre tropical forest under a British-led international body in return for talks with London on securing aid for sustainable development and technical assistance in switching to green industries. An official spokesman for the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said last night: "We have received a letter from the President and we are considering it."

The plan, revealed in The Independent on Saturday, has won strong backing from opposition parties. The shadow Environment Secretary, Peter Ainsworth, said tropical deforestation was not getting the attention it deserved and that the Government should take the proposal seriously.

"If we don't sort out deforestation, we can forget changing the lightbulbs," Mr Ainsworth said yesterday. "Deforestation is the neglected piece of the jigsaw. There must be a way into this and Guyana are offering what could be a model for how to do it."