North Rupununi

The North Rupununi District in located in south-west Guyana consisting of a mixture of forest, savannah and wetlands ecosystems and is considered one of the most diverse areas in South America. Located on the eastern margin of the larger savannah system which extends into Brazil and is separated by the Ireng and Takutu rivers that come together to form the Rio Branco. The Guyana Rupununi system is divided into the North and South Rupununi by the Kanuku Mountains.

The North Rupununi is situated on the Guiana Shield, precambrian rock with a complex geology that includes plutonic, volcanic, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks and various rifting, uplifting, sedimentation and erosion events. The geology of the North Rupununi is critical because it fundamentally defines the topography, soils, hydrology and ultimately the economy of the area.

The North Rupununi is part of a Mesozoic graben, the Takutu Basin. The basin is 280 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide, is over 7 kilometers deep, and covers more than 11,200 square kilometers in Guyana and Brazil.

The 2001 population data indicates that approximately 9000 people live within the 8000km2 in the north Rupununi in twenty seven different villages. The North Rupununi Wetland catchment is the traditional home of the Makushi people. Although the Makushi are still the primary ethnic group in the area, many communities contain a mixture of other indigenous groups and immigrants from the more populated coast. Wildlife represents a major local food source in the North Rupununi. Mammals and fish in particular provides the majority of the protein intake for villagers (Watkins et al., 1999). According to a study by the Makushi Research Unit (Forte, 1996) over 100 species of fish are eaten by Makushi. As such, fishing is an extremely important subsistence activity.

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