"A gift to the world," was how the former persident of Guyana Cheddi Jagan, described his country's Iwokrama rainforest programme. And the gift was made, he added, "without any loss to ourselves." This all round benefit is a key ingredient of the scheme, which seeks to reconcile environmental conservation with economic development. In effect, the programme is treating 360,000 hectares of pristine rainforest as a living laboratory: half the area will be maintained as a wilderness preserve, and half allocated to sustainable utilisation of forest resources.