If the global development index were based on self-sufficiency and population size only, the former Caribbean Dutch colony of Surinam would be the richest country on Earth. Its land surface is covered by close to 90% of pristine rainforest and the arsenal of natural resources is tremendous. Population pressure is also still very low.

In fact, Surinam is a model country for biodiversity conservation, with more than 14% of its area protected. It was also one of the first countries to carry out successful rainforest tourism in the 1970s and could be well underway to sustaining a glorious future for its forest.

But the country is very poor and foreign investors are preying on resources inside the already vulnerable rainforest. The indigenous population of Maroons and Amerindians fear losing their traditional lands to foreign investors without getting much in return. Luckily grassroots initiatives are coming up to strengthen the Maroon communities.

The Guyana Shield

Guyana means "land of many waters". The Guyana shield is a two-billion year old massive geological formation that for millennia has supported a great diversity of flora and fauna. It is part of the last major remaining frontier forest of the world known as the Amazon. More than 40% of its plants are endemic and can only be found in this region. It is truly a unique ecosystem.

Surinam, along with Guyana and French Guyana, is located entirely on the Guyana shield. The country's main nature reserve, managed by the Foundation for Nature Preservation in Surinam (STINASU), comprises more than 1.6 million hectares of uninhabited primary tropical forest. The American Conservation International (CI) and the Government of Surinam are now working together to invest in activities that will broaden the economic scope of the country without harming biodiversity.

Surinamese Rainforest Maroons

The Maroons are descendants of escaped African slaves. In 1667 the Dutch traded New York for Surinam with the British. The Dutch started to import slaves from West Africa, mainly Ghana, to boost their upcoming sugarcane production.

Many slaves tried to escape to the forest as soon as they arrived after a harrowing and life threatening sea journey. Those that managed successfully used the dense rainforest as a hideout and established a new tribal African culture alongside the indigenous indians.

The escaped slaves were called Maroons, from the Spanish word "cimarron", meaning wild or untamed. There are six Maroon peoples in the Surinamese forest: the Saramaka, the N'djuka, the Kwinti, the Matawai, the Aluku and the Paramaka.

These tribes freed fellow slaves and raided the plantations continuously from their hideout and for centuries, they kept most of their African heritage in tact.

The Dutch colonisers struck a deal. It was agreed that the Maroons would stop raiding if they gained official freedom for those in the forest. This treaty was made as a blood union in Surinam in 1760 and it included the right for Maroon and indigenous people to govern themselves. These tribal people still recognise the agreement, but Surinam became independent in 1975 and now the government sees the treaty an unwelcome relic of a colonial past.

A Demanding World Market

In 2003, the Chinese firm Zhong Heng Tai opted for a concession to log 40,000 hectares of pristine rainforest for timber. The Surinamese government insisted that a more long-term solution should be given, so the Chinese firm offered to develop palm oil production.

In an unprecedented concession to social accountability, the government discussed the draft contract in a public presentation and there were many questions about the environmental impact and profit for Surinam. But despite public protests, the Surinamese parliament agreed on the concession deal in January 2004, with conditions to guarantee a good profit for both the government and the local people.

The concession policy has been met with controversy. Concession sites often run through the indigenous land of tribal people. The Maroons and Amerindians say the government is violating the right of the minority peoples of the interior to participate effectively in decision-making on issues that affect them.

Unfortunately, Surinam has little choice but to bow to the demands of the world market to try to get out of its long-term poverty cycle. Main attractions in the rainforest are the trees and the minerals such as gold and bauxite.

But there are many problems with such resource extraction. Illegal, mostly Brazilian, "hit and run" groups are damaging large parts of the Surinamese forest and its rivers with small-scale gold mining.

The government feels that large-scale multinationals are better to control than the illegal small-scale miners. Therefore, the newly established environmental policy institute (NIMOS) works together with the government on implementing strict environmental monitoring and impact assessment of multinationals while at the same time banning illegal gold mining.

In February 2004, the Canadian gold producing company Cambior started mining in Surinam using cyanide and open pit mining. Hopefully the environmental monitoring process will prevent another situation like the one in 1995 in neighbouring Guyana where a Cambior mine leaked over a billion litres of cyanide into a nearby creek.

Strengthening Maroon and Indigenous Communities

With governmental concession policies, it seems the tribal communities are often ignored. Luckily most multinational companies in Surinam are bound by international standards and obliged to incorporate sustainable development initiatives with surrounding communities.

Grassroot organisations continue to stress the importance of linking and complementing multinational concessions with local and regional sustainable development. The Surinam-based Women's Business Group is one of such organisations. With their projects, the indigenous communities are given the chance to become self-reliant and make sustainable use of the natural resources of the forest of Surinam.

It's a sustainable answer to the large-scale logging and mining operations. In Klaaskreek, near the Rosebel mine site, Cornelly Olivieira of the Women's Business Group in Paramaribo is building a new community centre for more than 5,000 people of the surrounding Maroon communities.

The Klaaskreek project aims to educate and train the women of tribal communities to promote self-sufficiency and reliance. Through the production of non-timber products like medicinal plants, fruits and textiles, the communities generate income for themselves and develop a sustainable livelihood. Cornelly feels strongly against any foreign investor making use of Surinam's resources without giving something back to the local communities.

She says: "Unfortunately our policy makers do not see that we, the people of Surinam, don't see any revenue or advantages of foreign concessions. Surinam has enormous potential, eco-tourism is coming up, the Maroons and Indians have a lot to offer; they have a rich culture and a vast knowledge of medicinal plants that can serve the whole world."