Bart Schultz
The Dutch colonized the country in the early 17th century. After some unrest, the colony was ceded by the Dutch to the English in 1815. Guyana gained independence in 1966. The climate is temperate tropical, with rainy seasons from May to mid-August and from mid-November to mid-January. Population is primarily concentrated on the coastal plain, a low-lying area that slopes very gradually towards the sea.
Due to the altitude and the tides at the site on the Atlantic Ocean, habitation and agriculture were only really possible if flood protection measures were in place. Because the soil is very fertile, this was done in the past by artificial mounds. The construction of many mounds, surrounded by ditches, has been described primarily by the archaeologist Stéphen Rostain. The mounds were built by the Arauquinoids starting around 650. There was a great deal of activity in this area, particularly between 1000 and 1450, and they built the mounds to establish their villages.
In Guyana, the mounds were constructed with elongated and narrow ridges, ranging from 1 to 3 metres wide, 5 to 30 metres long, and 30 to 80 centimetres high. In eastern Guyana, the fields were 1.7 to 6.9 meters wide, 5 to 8.2 metres long, and 50 to 170 centimetres high.
After Dutch colonization, the development of polders began, primarily for plantations. Hillebrand Ehrenburg and Marcel Meyer describe that the construction and management of these polder plantations represent one of the most important Dutch legacies in Guyana. Settlements and agriculture were initially limited to a strip of land extending 50 to 150 kilometres upstream from the rivers.
Despite the marshy coastal area, the prospect of high profits from tropical agricultural products, particularly sugar, was the motivation for the construction of the polders, especially in the second half of the 18th century. Because of these polders, the coastal plain remains one of the most productive plantation areas in Guyana.
The polder system involved the construction of a sea dike, followed by a sleeper dike of the same length and two side dikes, forming a rectangular polder. The dikes kept out saline water, and freshwater was supplied from the upstream side through a network of canals that provided irrigation and drainage, as well as a transport system.
Along the ocean the dikes were protected by mangroves and gourida shrubs. Excess water was discharged to the sea through discharge sluices. During the Dutch colonization period, the work of reclaiming land in the coastal area was primarily carried out by African slaves. Ehrenburg and Meyer also show a 1796 map showing the canals and polder plantations along the Demerara River.
Based on the available literature, I have been able to identify four polders in Guyana: the Black Bush Polder, the Ogle Plantation, Georgetown, and the Channel Number 2 Polder. The Black Bush Polder, with an area of 10,900 hectares, was established in 1959 for rice cultivation. The Ogle Plantation, with its 2,673 hectares, is primarily used for sugarcane cultivation.
The capital, Georgetown, lies along the Atlantic coast in the coastal plain on the eastern bank near the mouth of the Demerara River. The city is surrounded by reed beds, swamps, and savannah. The land lies mostly one meter below high tide. Therefore, the city is protected by a sea wall combined with a network of urban canals with culvert-style discharge gates to drain excess water from the city. The deepest parts of the city are 1.8 metres below mean sea level.
Finally, the Channel No. 2 polder is mentioned in several newspaper articles. I haven't yet been able to find any further information about the size and water management of this polder. Google Earth shows that there must be more polder areas in Guyana.
