Conservation International Suriname

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Conservation International Suriname (CI-Suriname) is the Suriname program of Conservation International. It was established in 1992 and is based in Paramaribo. The organization works to protect biodiversity, support protected-area planning and management, promote coastal resilience, and work with Indigenous peoples.

The flagship project is the Central Suriname Nature Reserve (CSNR), a 1.6 million-hectare protected area created in 1998 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Biodiversity monitoring there is done through the Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) network, using camera traps to study tropical forest mammals. The CSNR connects Raleighvallen, Eilerts de Haan, and Tafelberg into one protected area, and a research station at Voltzberg (rebuilt in 2017) supports ongoing work. Management involves Suriname’s forestry authorities, Natuurbeheer, and STINASU, with multi-year plans and zoning; the reserve covers about 11% of the country.

CI-Suriname also works on coastal protection near Paramaribo, using sediment-trapping structures at Weg naar Zee to promote mangrove regrowth and reduce erosion. Remote-sensing shows sediment accretion in the mid-2010s, but by 2025 coastal erosion and flooding affected farmland and homes, with mangrove restoration and sea-dike construction underway. In the southern interior, the organization supports the South Suriname Conservation Corridor, a long-term plan with Indigenous communities (started in 2015) that includes participatory mapping and locally defined resource-use rules for Tiriyó and Wayana communities. Community-based Brazil nut products are marketed as Tuhka to support local livelihoods.

Funding and history: a Suriname Conservation Fund was established in 1999 to support protected-area management, including the CSNR, with a grant of up to $2 million from the Conservation International Foundation in 2000.