The unique partnership which made it all possible
Nestled in a clearing beneath the Canopy Walkway, Atta Rainforest Lodge provides comfortable rooms, expert guides, and home-cooked meals for all visitors.
The Canopy Walkway and Atta Rainforest Lodge are jointly operated by the Amerindian Community of Surama, Rock View Lodge, Iwokrama International Center for Rainforest Conservation, and Wilderness Explorers. Together we bring a wealth of expertise and creativity to the guests who spend time with us. The CATS partnership is a model of ecotourism that proves the tourism sector, a conservation NGO, and an indigenous community can find joint economic success while providing local opportunity and an excellent experience for visitors from around the world.
The Canopy Walkway and Atta Rainforest Lodge are jointly operated by the Amerindian Community of Surama, Rock View Lodge, Iwokrama International Center for Rainforest Conservation, and Wilderness Explorers. Together we bring a wealth of expertise and creativity to the guests who spend time with us.
The CATS partnership is a model of ecotourism that proves the tourism sector, a conservation NGO, and an indigenous community can find joint economic success while providing local opportunity and an excellent experience for visitors from around the world.
Wilderness Explorers
Private Sector Tour Operator
Back in 1999 Wilderness Explorers was one of the first tour operators to embrace the now-fashionable idea of community tourism, partnering with Surama Village to provide marketing and administrative support for that country’s first indigenously-operated ecolodge. These days Wilderness continues to work with lodges and regional consortiums with tourism development aspirations. Hand-in-hand they are building opportunities for economic growth that don’t rely on resource extraction or the mass-market.
Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation & Development
Research, Hospitality & Training Centre
The Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama forest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest, “in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general”. The Iwokrama Forest encompasses about almost one million acres (3,700 sq. km / 370,000 hectares / 1,429 sq. miles) with a boundary of 442km (274 mi.). At its widest, the area is 85 km (53 mi.), and the greatest extent in a north-south direction is 80km (50 mi.). The Georgetown-Lethem Road dissects the Forest, traversing about 72km (45 mi.) between the northeastern and southern boundaries. The Forest lies between 4 and 5 degrees north latitude and 58.5 and 59.5 degrees west longitude.
Surama Village and Eco-Lodge
Indigenous Comunity
Surama village is a small Amerindian community of the Makushi people living in the north Rupununi region # 9. Surama village is situated in 5 sq miles of savannah land, surrounded by forest, hills and mountains of the Pakariama mountain range. The life of the people is in the art and understanding of how to live with nature. It is a simple and basic way of life, living according to the laws of nature.
Rock View Lodge
Private Lodge Operator
The Rock View Lodge was conceived in 1992 by Colin Edwards, who purchased the old ranch of Rock View from the Fredericks family who had been rearing cattle here since 1969. It was once a significant stop along the old cattle trail of the Rupununi, but today is an oasis in the savannah, offering comfortable guest accommodation and boasting the interior region’s only swimming pool. The lodge is immediately adjacent to the Annai airstrip and is a frequent jumping-off point for visitors entering and leaving the Rupununi.
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