Matthews Ridge

History

Matthews Ridge was one of the oldest indigenous villages in the Barima-Waini region. A narrow gauge railway was built to Port Kaituma to transport the ore. The mine was closed in 1968. With the closing of the manganese mining operation in 1968, the village went into an economic downturn, which it struggled to recover from for many years. The mine was reopened by Canadian company Reunion Manganese Incorporated, but this operation was taken over by Guyana Manganese Incorporated (GMI) in 2019. Otherwise, small-scale gold mining is the basis for most other jobs in the area. This involves travel to backdams (small areas where gold is known to be located) by foot or on ATVs, where batels or dredges are used to mine.

Most-observed species

• White-throated Toucan

  Ramphastos tucanus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1
• Spotted Sandpiper

  Actitis macularius (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1
• Carib Grackle

  Quiscalus lugubris Swainson, 1838 · Aves
  1
• Silver-beaked Tanager

  Ramphocelus carbo (Pallas, 1764) · Aves
  1
• Venezuelan Pokeweed

  Phytolacca rivinoides Kunth & Bouché · Magnoliopsida
  1
• Southern Lapwing

  Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  1
• Red-rumped Cacique

  Cacicus haemorrhous (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1