Introduction
At over 87% forest cover, Guyana is one of the most heavily forested countries in South America much of it designated as State Forests managed by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).
It is important to note that Guyana’s timber species are hardwood, meaning that there isn’t any soft wood just a variation in density of the hardwood. The recognized density categories are High density, Medium density and Low density, however locally the low density species are referred to as “softwood”.
Local timber species vary in two main properties; the nature of the extractives in the timber and the thickness of the cell wall (reflected in the density of the specie). These properties in turn define the utilization parameters of any given specie within the density categories.
