Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · Venezuela · 1981–2026

Canaima National Park: fire suppression for the Guri catchment, mining pressure and the UNESCO decisions

Nature's voice · report
My savanna and forest burned over 64,200 hectares in 2014–2015 and 106,000 hectares in October 2015 to August 2016, according to a Landsat-8 study (2020).
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
What the record lacks: 6 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 1 insufficient · 2 self-reported only · 5 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Area burned in Canaima National Park
Mining in and next to the park
  • Government and regulators State Party: The Orinoco Mining Arc polygon (ZDENAMO) does not overlap the property and lies 1–5 km from its boundary; current mining rights are 10–15 km away; monitoring of mining inside the property continues. UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • International bodies World Heritage Committee (2026): Regrets that the State Party continues to fail to clarify whether ZDENAMO mining was assessed for impacts on the property's Outstanding Universal Value, and notes with concern the continuation of mining activities within the property. UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • Communities and civil society SOS Orinoco: Measured more than 1,800 hectares of mining and 49 active dredges inside the park by remote sensing and satellite imagery. El Diario (EFE)
Fire management policy
  • Company or project CORPOELEC-EDELCA (programme as described by Millán and Bilbao): A policy of fighting and suppressing fire to protect the upper Caroní forests that feed the Guri dam; the programme has run for more than 35 years. Biodiversidade Brasileira 10(1) (Millán and Bilbao)
  • Researchers Iokiñe Rodríguez (2006): Savanna burning by the Pemón plays a key role in preventing large catastrophic fires. Human Ecology 35:331-343 (Iokiñe Rodríguez)
  • Researchers Bibiana Bilbao (2020): Without the ancestral practice, fires in the protected area would increase in intensity and severity, putting the tropical forest and water sources at risk. Dialogue Earth (Tatiana Pardo Ibarra)

The state power utility has run a fire suppression programme in Canaima National Park to protect the forests that feed the Guri dam. A Landsat study measured 106,000 hectares burned in 2015–2016, the State Party reported 204 hectares for a later period, and the World Heritage Committee has recorded recurring fires and mining inside the park.

106,000 haBurned area in Canaima National Park, October 2015 to August 2016 (Landsat-8)
3.7% of the park. The State Party's 2026 report, as summarised by UNESCO, gives 39 fires and 204 hectares, without a period.

Status As of August 2026: the World Heritage Committee's 2026 decision refers to the in-danger criteria of Paragraph 180, the Reactive Monitoring mission had not taken place, and an updated report is due on 1 December 2027.

What?
A fire suppression programme run by the state power utility to protect the Guri catchment has operated in Canaima National Park for more than 35 years; a Landsat study measured 106,000 hectares burned in 2015–2016, and the World Heritage Committee recorded recurring fires and mining inside the park. UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Where?
Canaima National Park, Bolívar state, south-east Venezuela, on the border with Brazil and Guyana; the upper Caroní basin (18,000 km²) feeds the Guri dam. Biodiversidade Brasileira 10(1) (Millán and Bilbao)
When?
Fire programme since 1981; Landsat-8 measurement of 2014–2016 burned area; UNESCO decisions in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2026; new mine reported on 13 August 2026. UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Who?
Gained
  • CORPOELEC-EDELCA — Protection of the upper Caroní forests that feed the Guri dam complex, the stated purpose of its fire programme; Guri is described as providing 70% of the country's energy demand Biodiversidade Brasileira 10(1) (Millán and Bilbao)
  • Companies licensed by the US Treasury — Authorised in March 2026 to buy, transport and resell Venezuelan gold, including deals involving the Venezuelan government or Minerven El Diario (EFE)
Lost
Harmed
Why?
The utility's stated aim is to protect forests that feed the Guri dam; researchers attribute the fires in part to the suppression model and describe Pemón patch burning as preventing large fires; the Committee names small-scale agriculture and recurring droughts as drivers of forest degradation and lists 'illegal activities', mining and fires as factors. UNESCO World Heritage Centre
How?
Pemón brigades carry out suppression for the utility; only 13% of 2,500–3,000 fires a year are extinguished according to Millán and Bilbao; the State Party and the Committee disagree on whether mining impacts were assessed. Biodiversidade Brasileira 10(1) (Millán and Bilbao)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Canaima National Park lies in Bolívar state, south-east Venezuela, on the border with Brazil and Guyana; its area is given as 30,000 km². It includes the Gran Sabana sector of the upper Caroní basin (18,000 km²), which feeds the Guri hydroelectric complex. The Vegetation Wildfire Control Program of the state power utility CORPOELEC-EDELCA (formerly EDELCA) has run for 'more than 35 years'; Pemón Indigenous brigade members carry out the work. Historically its policy has been to fight and suppress fire to protect the upper Caroní forests. The Guri complex is described as providing '70% of the country's energy demand'. Iokiñe Rodríguez wrote in 2006 that managers had used a costly fire control programme since 1981 to eliminate savanna burning by the Pemón.

Millán and Bilbao (2020) wrote that only 13% of the 2,500–3,000 fires that occur in the region each year are extinguished, despite constant and costly suppression efforts by the brigades. They wrote that the suppression policies were dictated by the senior management of CORPOELEC-EDELCA and had generated conflicts with Pemón communities. Fire ecologist Bibiana Bilbao recorded more than ten uses of fire by the Pemón, including shifting cultivation, hunting, collecting honey, cooking and ceremonies, and paid most attention to patch-mosaic burning of savanna near forests. She found that the most intense fires occurred on land unburned for the longest time, where grass had built up to about 30 cm. Workshop participants, including programme staff and Pemón brigades, agreed to a new model of integral fire management that includes Indigenous communities in participatory schemes.

A study of 252 Landsat-8 images (Rivera-Lombardi, Bilbao, Mistry, Berardi and Torres, 2020) measured 64,200 hectares burned in 2014–2015 (2.2% of the park) and 106,000 hectares in October 2015 to August 2016 (3.7% of the park). January 2016 alone accounted for 45,000 hectares, 43% of that year's burned area, with no rain recorded in the park that month during a 'very strong' ENSO episode. Fire incidence rose 64% between the two periods and forests were 'very affected' in 2015–2016. The State Party's 2026 report, as summarised by UNESCO, states that the property 'was affected by 39 fires that damaged a total area of 204 hectares, mainly in the savanna'; the summary gives no period. A fire at Auyantepuy near Kamarata on 11 March 2024 reportedly began as a burn to clear a small farm plot; INPARQUES staff reportedly fought it for 48 hours without air support.

The World Heritage Committee has addressed the property in decisions 44 COM 7B.199 (2021), 45 COM 7B.71 (2023), 47 COM 7B.41 (2025) and 48 COM 7B.87 (2026). In 2025 it recorded 'continued forest degradation and deforestation occurring within the property, and recurring fires', and the State Party confirmed 'some illegal mining activities within the property'. In 2026 the State Party repeated that the Orinoco Mining Arc polygon (ZDENAMO) does not overlap the property and lies 1–5 km from its boundary, with current mining rights 10–15 km away. The Committee regretted that the State Party continued to fail to clarify whether mining in ZDENAMO had been assessed for impacts on the property's Outstanding Universal Value, and noted with significant concern that the Reactive Monitoring mission continued not to be invited. It considered that it was not possible to fully assess the state of conservation of the property and referred to the in-danger criteria of Paragraph 180. SOS Orinoco, an NGO, reported mining over more than 1,500 hectares in a report cited in January 2026 and 'more than 1,800 hectares' with 49 active dredges on the Caroní inside the park in August 2026, and reported a new 5.8-hectare mine on 13 August 2026.

The sources record no budget figure for the fire programme. UNESCO international assistance to the property comprised two approved requests in 1999–2007 totalling USD 43,777, and UNESCO extrabudgetary funds were listed as none. GEF project 2103, for a participatory management model for Canaima, carried a GEF grant of USD 6,000,000 and co-financing of USD 18,520,000 and is listed as cancelled. In March 2026 the US Treasury issued a licence authorising certain activities by US companies to buy, transport and resell Venezuelan gold, including deals involving the Venezuelan government or Minerven; SOS Orinoco criticised the licence.

  1. 1981Managers start a fire control programme to eliminate Pemón savanna burning
  2. 1994Canaima inscribed as a World Heritage property
  3. 1999Bibiana Bilbao starts fire-ecology research in Canaima
  4. 2016Landsat-8 study measures 64,200 ha burned in 2014–2015 and 106,000 ha in 2015–2016, including 45,000 ha in January 2016; the Orinoco Mining Arc (111,843 km²) is created by decree
  5. 2021World Heritage Committee decision 44 COM 7B.199
  6. 2022Reactive Monitoring mission postponed from September, then not invited again
  7. 2023Decision 45 COM 7B.71 notes an increase in firefighters and rangers and regrets that no new mission invitation was issued
  8. 2024Fire at Auyantepuy near Kamarata (11 Mar)
  9. 2025Decision 47 COM 7B.41 records 'multiple threats from cumulative impacts of mining, land use change and fire'
  10. 2026State Party submits its state of conservation report (15 Feb); decision 48 COM 7B.87 refers to Paragraph 180; SOS Orinoco reports a new 5.8 ha mine (13 Aug); updated report due 1 December 2027

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“Only 13% of the 2500-3000 fires that occur in the region each year are extinguished, despite constant and costly suppression efforts undertaken by these brigades.”

“since 1981 managers have employed a costly fire control program to eliminate savanna burning by the Pemon”

“Without this ancestral practice, we would increase the intensity and severity of fires in the protected area, putting the tropical forest and water sources at risk.”

“was affected by 39 fires that damaged a total area of 204 hectares, mainly in the savanna”

“continued forest degradation and deforestation occurring within the property, and recurring fires”

“Regrets that the State Party continues to fail to provide clarification”

World Heritage Committee, decision 48 COM 7B.87, on whether mining in ZDENAMO was assessed for impacts on the property's Outstanding Universal Value · 2026 · UNESCO World Heritage Centre

“cannot be considered an adequate alternative”

World Heritage Centre and IUCN, on the State Party's proposed international meeting in place of the Reactive Monitoring mission · 2026 · translated from French · UNESCO World Heritage Centre

“disperses up to 100 kilometres downstream”

SOS Orinoco, on mercury from mining · August 2026 · translated from Spanish · El Diario (EFE)

“threatens the useful life of the turbines of the Guri reservoir”

SOS Orinoco, on sedimentation from mining · August 2026 · translated from Spanish · El Diario (EFE)

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Area burned in Canaima National Park
Researchers
Rivera-Lombardi and co-authors (Landsat-8, 252 images)

64,200 ha in 2014–2015 (2.2% of the park) and 106,000 ha in October 2015 to August 2016 (3.7% of the park).

Biodiversidade Brasileira 10(1):79 (Rivera-Lombardi, Bilbao, Mistry, Berardi, Torres)
Government and regulators
State Party (2026 report, as summarised by UNESCO)

39 fires damaging a total of 204 hectares, mainly in the savanna; the UNESCO summary gives no period.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Mining in and next to the park
Government and regulators
State Party

The Orinoco Mining Arc polygon (ZDENAMO) does not overlap the property and lies 1–5 km from its boundary; current mining rights are 10–15 km away; monitoring of mining inside the property continues.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre
International bodies
World Heritage Committee (2026)

Regrets that the State Party continues to fail to clarify whether ZDENAMO mining was assessed for impacts on the property's Outstanding Universal Value, and notes with concern the continuation of mining activities within the property.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Communities and civil society
SOS Orinoco

Measured more than 1,800 hectares of mining and 49 active dredges inside the park by remote sensing and satellite imagery.

El Diario (EFE)
Fire management policy
Company or project
CORPOELEC-EDELCA (programme as described by Millán and Bilbao)

A policy of fighting and suppressing fire to protect the upper Caroní forests that feed the Guri dam; the programme has run for more than 35 years.

Biodiversidade Brasileira 10(1) (Millán and Bilbao)
Researchers
Iokiñe Rodríguez (2006)

Savanna burning by the Pemón plays a key role in preventing large catastrophic fires.

Human Ecology 35:331-343 (Iokiñe Rodríguez)
Researchers
Bibiana Bilbao (2020)

Without the ancestral practice, fires in the protected area would increase in intensity and severity, putting the tropical forest and water sources at risk.

Dialogue Earth (Tatiana Pardo Ibarra)
International meeting in place of the Reactive Monitoring mission
Government and regulators
State Party

Proposed an international meeting in 2026 in place of the mission.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre
International bodies
World Heritage Centre and IUCN

The proposed meeting cannot be considered an adequate alternative to the mission.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The contribution of the park to forest loss is 'negligible' and its environmental and ecological integrity is '99.97%' preserved; the remaining 0.03% is recreation areas, Indigenous villages, access roads and management infrastructure
    State Party's 2026 report, as summarised by UNESCO (translated from French) · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • Trained Indigenous brigades combining ancestral knowledge and modern techniques; restoration with native species and a native-plant nursery; a Roraima tepui visit regulation; 1,319 kg of waste collected
    State Party's 2026 report, as summarised by UNESCO · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • The Orinoco Mining Arc polygon does not overlap the property and lies 1–5 km from its boundary; current mining rights are 10–15 km away, so the property is protected from mining
    State Party's 2026 report, as summarised by UNESCO · UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Recorded

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
UNESCO World Heritage international assistance to the property (2 approved requests)$0.04m
Window: 1999–2007
GEF project 2103, participatory management model for Canaima (cancelled)$6m
Window: GEF-3
Co-financing of 18.52 million is listed; the project page does not state whether any money was disbursed.
CORPOELEC-EDELCA wildfire control programme—
No budget figure is on record; academic sources describe the programme as costly.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • venezuela-gov (15 February 2026): In its 2026 state of conservation report, as summarised by UNESCO, the State Party said Indigenous brigades combine ancestral knowledge and modern techniques, restoration with native species had been carried out, ZDENAMO lies 1–5 km from the boundary and does not overlap the property, and it proposed an international meeting in 2026 in place of the Reactive Monitoring mission. · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • unesco-whc (2026): The World Heritage Centre and IUCN said the information supplied does not address concerns about impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value, gives no details on the status, extent or location of existing and planned concessions, and that the proposed meeting cannot be considered an adequate alternative to the mission. · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • sos-orinoco (13 August 2026): Measured more than 1,800 hectares of mining and 49 active dredges inside the park and said a new mine is driven by Pemón leaders of Sector 2 of Canaima in coordination with politicians and military. · El Diario (EFE)

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2021–2026Ongoing
    World Heritage Committee decisions on Canaima National Park (48 COM 7B.87, 2026)
    UNESCO World Heritage Committee · International court · World Heritage Committee → State Party (Venezuela)

    Decision 48 COM 7B.87 (2026) noted with concern the recurrence of fires and again urged an integrated fire prevention and management strategy, regretted that the State Party continued to fail to clarify whether ZDENAMO mining had been assessed for impacts on the property's Outstanding Universal Value, noted with concern the continuation of mining activities within the property and with significant concern that the Reactive Monitoring mission continued not to be invited, considered that it was not possible to fully assess the state of conservation of the property, and referred to the in-danger criteria of Paragraph 180. Decision 47 COM 7B.41 (2025) recorded multiple threats from cumulative impacts of mining, land use change and fire. Decision 45 COM 7B.71 (2023) noted with appreciation the reported increase in the number of firefighters and rangers. The updated report is due on 1 December 2027. UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Burned, Oct 2015–Aug 2016
106,000 ha
3.7% of the park; Landsat-8 study (2020)
Burned in January 2016 alone
45,000 ha
No rain recorded that month
Mining inside the park
1,800+ ha
SOS Orinoco, August 2026; 49 active dredges
Fires put out each year
13%
Of 2,500–3,000 fires a year, per Millán and Bilbao (2020)

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluationUnder standard-setter review

Nature

Money

  • None on record CORPOELEC-EDELCA wildfire control programme — No budget figure is on record; academic sources describe the programme as costly.

Accounts

  • Disputed International meeting in place of the Reactive Monitoring mission

Record

  • None on record None on record: a budget figure for the CORPOELEC-EDELCA Vegetation Wildfire Control Program; academic sources describe it only as costly.
  • None on record None on record: an impact assessment of ZDENAMO mining against the property's Outstanding Universal Value; the Committee requested one in decisions of 2023, 2025 and 2026.
  • None on record None on record: a Reactive Monitoring mission; it has been requested since 2021 and had not taken place by 2026.
  • None on record None on record: a court case concerning the fire programme or mining inside Canaima.
  • None on record None on record: UNESCO extrabudgetary funds for the property (listed as none).
  • Insufficient Insufficient: the information on a fire prevention and management strategy supplied in 2026; UNESCO also noted no updated monitoring indicators, no visitor-impact assessments and no information on invasive species.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: whether any GEF money was disbursed to project 2103 before its cancellation, and the cancellation date.
  • Disputed Disputed: the burned area; a Landsat-8 study gives 64,200 and 106,000 hectares for 2014–2016, while the State Party gives 39 fires and 204 hectares for a period it does not state in the UNESCO summary.
  • Self-reported only Self-reported only: the State Party's statements that the park's forest loss is negligible and its integrity is 99.97% preserved.
  • Self-reported only Self-reported only: the NGO claims that mercury disperses up to 100 kilometres downstream and that sedimentation threatens the useful life of the Guri turbines; neither is measured in the sources.

Did the harm stop?

Fires recurred: the World Heritage Committee noted the recurrence of fires in 2026, and SOS Orinoco reported 49 active dredges and a new mine in August 2026.

Who paid?

None on record for the harm itself. UNESCO international assistance to the property was USD 43,777 in 1999–2007, and GEF project 2103 (GEF grant USD 6,000,000) was cancelled; the fire programme budget is not on record.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers✓ International bodies

Press and investigations

  1. What Colombia is learning from Venezuela about fire management
    Dialogue Earth (Tatiana Pardo Ibarra) · 2020-08-20

Researchers

  1. Indigenous firefighters: the important role of the Pemón indigenous brigades…
    Biodiversidade Brasileira 10(1) (Millán and Bilbao) · 2020-07-27
  2. Quantification of burnt areas… Canaima National Park
    Biodiversidade Brasileira 10(1):79 (Rivera-Lombardi, Bilbao, Mistry, Berardi, Torres) · 2020
  3. Pemon Perspectives of Fire Management in Canaima National Park, Southeastern Venezuela
    Human Ecology 35:331-343 (Iokiñe Rodríguez) · 2006-12-13

International bodies

  1. Decision 48 COM 7B.87, Canaima National Park
    UNESCO World Heritage Centre · 2026
  3. Decision 47 COM 7B.41
    UNESCO World Heritage Centre · 2025
  4. Decision 45 COM 7B.71
    UNESCO World Heritage Centre · 2023

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Institutions

IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and its global list assessing species' risk of extinction.

Bonds and banking

Arranger
The bank that structures and sells a bond or loan deal, usually for a fee.

Law and courts

Land titling
Formal legal recognition of ownership of land.
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