Suriname preparing to clear Amazon for agriculture, documents suggest

Rainforest covers 93% of Suriname’s total land area. (Photo courtesy of David Evers/Flickr)

Complicating the situation is the fact that the Amazon Rainforest covers 93% of Suriname’s total land area. Because Suriname is one of the only countries in the world with a carbon-negative economy, meaning it absorbs more CO2 than it emits, conservation groups and Indigenous communities are keeping a close eye on where the government is expanding.

The president’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment for this article.

“Agricultural development in the rainforest — I don’t even think they have a strategy there,” said Maria Josée Artist, who works on community development for the Association of Indigenous Village Heads in Suriname (VIDS). “They haven’t thought it through. It’s only because of money. They need financing for the national economy.”

A few of the areas that interest the Ministry of Agriculture have preexisting logging concessions, according to the documents. But most of them have no other restrictions or activity. Some areas overlap with land occupied by Indigenous communities that have spent years trying to win ancestral rights to their territories. Expanding the agricultural frontier would complicate those efforts, Artist and other Indigenous representatives told Mongabay.

“Traditional industrial-scale agriculture will lead to complete deforestation,” Singh said, “with all the consequences for flora and fauna and communities living in harmony with the forest.”

The private sector looks for land, too

Five private entities have also expressed interest in developing agriculture, livestock and aquaculture activities, according to the documents. The combined area of around 10,868 hectares is located in the district of Sipaliwini. Each entity is registered as a stichting, or “foundation,” a legal setup that provides limited liability to members and allows for easy transfer of ownership.

All of these stichtings are connected to a resident named Radjesh Ramgolam, who identified himself to Mongabay as a land broker. The stichtings are the Kovu & Kiara Foundation, Toolit Asset Management Foundation, Braeburn Apple Foundation, and Togliatti Asset Management Foundation.

Another stichting, the Gaziantep Asset Management Foundation, is connected to both Ramgolam and someone named Vinodjkumar Sowdager.

The stichtings are registered to addresses in the capital, Paramaribo, and the district of Wanica, which is just outside the capital. None of the foundations have a social media presence or website.

The requests for land were divided up between several stichtings because the area of interest is too big, Ramgolam told Mongabay over the phone, and could create “problems” with the government. He didn’t comment on what kinds of problems, only that land deals can be “sensitive.”

The land deals were dated to January 2022 and were still in discussion as recently as this July. Messages from President Santokhi’s office, reviewed by Mongabay, specifically inquire about an update on their progress. “You are kindly requested to provide the president with information regarding the status of the application,” one said.

Ramgolam said he plans to divide the land into pieces as a business venture. He mentioned growing soy and cashews but declined to comment further for this article.

Banner image: An unfinished road through the rainforest in Suriname. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

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Agriculture, Cattle Ranching, Climate Change Politics, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Featured, Forests, Governance, Government, Indigenous Peoples, Land Use Change, Mongabay Data Studio, Rainforest Deforestation, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Tropical Forests

Latin America, South America, Suriname

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Source link : https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/suriname-preparing-to-clear-amazon-for-agriculture-documents-suggest/

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Publish date : 2023-12-14 03:00:00

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