Guyana - Flora and fauna

The flora varies with the rainfall and soil composition. The coastal area, originally swamp and marsh with mangrove and associated vegetation, has long been cleared for farming. In inland areas of heavy rainfall there are extensive equatorial forests, with green-heart a major species; varieties of trees may number as many as 1,000. Local fauna includes locusts, moth borers, acoushi ants, bats and other small mammals. There may be more than 675 species of birds. Northwestern coastal beaches are an important breeding ground for sea turtles.