Guyana's first community-owned conservation area in the pristine southern rainforest
Kanashen
Kanashen is Guyana's first community-owned legally protected area, situated in the remote tropical wilderness of southern Guyana within the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region. This vast tract of pristine rainforest encompasses the headwaters of the Essequibo River, Guyana's principal water source, and encompasses the southern portion of its watershed. The area is primarily inhabited by the Wai-Wai indigenous people, who have maintained a close spiritual, cultural, and social relationship with this landscape for millennia. The protected area covers approximately 625,000 hectares of largely untouched forest, representing what many consider to be the last of Guyana's pristine frontier rainforest. The landscape is characterized by mountain ranges including the Wassarai, Yahore, Komoa, and Kaiawakua, with elevations reaching about 1,200 meters above sea level, and is drained by the Kassikaityu, Kamoa, Sipu, and Chodikar rivers.