Guyana indigenous people charge land abuses

* Amerindians say land snatched through poor planning

* Goverment seeking to save forests under U.N. program

By Neil Marks

GEORGETOWN, June 30 (Reuters) - Guyana's indigenous people are accusing the government of snatching their traditional land through poor demarcation as the authorities try to benefit from a U.N. program to preserve the country's rainforests.

The World Bank has given Guyana $3.6 million to help prepare a plan for the U.N program to slow deforestation. But Amerindian leaders insist the government's proposals do not address its international obligations to indigenous groups.

"We have urged governments and international agencies to protect our traditional practices and help resolve outstanding land issues," Tony James, president of Guyana's Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), said at a World Bank meeting.

Amerindian communities make up about 10 percent of the population of Guyana, a former British colony next to Venezuela.

The country is mostly covered by forests and boasts one of the world's most varied biodiversities.

Indigenous leaders say the government is taking over traditional lands through poor demarcation, and that in some areas communities were demarcated without their knowledge.