Rescue project for Dutch archives in Guyana The Dutch records in
Guyana, registered as UNESCO Memory of the World in 2011, are in
a very poor condition. Ink corrosion, insects and the tropical
climate have made the documents very fragile over time. The
Rescue Project of Dutch Records in Guyana is an example of how
the UNESCO Memory of the World label can act as a catalyst for
international cultural cooperation. Guyana's mutual history with
the Netherlands is little known. On 2 June 1621, the Dutch West
India Company (DWIC) was granted a charter for a trade monopoly
in the West Indies by the Dutch Republic and was given
jurisdiction over North and South America, the Caribbean and
West Africa. After the loss of 'Dutch Brazil' in 1654, sugar
became the raison d'être of the European colonial enterprise in
Guyana or the Wild Coast, the long expanse between Brazil and
Venezuela. Significant quantities of written heritage of the
Dutch presence and colonial administration have been preserved
in Guyana. Guyana has app