Suriname
French humanitarian operation for indigenous Surinamese
July 11, 2020 – Publication: StarNieuws France has donated 280 aid packages totaling some 4,000 kg of food and basic goods to indigenous Surinamese villages severely affected by Covid-19, flooding and isolation. The first packages were brought to Kwamalasamutu by plane on July 10. The French used the budget allocated to the July 14 celebration…
Read MoreIsh Jamanthy and ACT-Suriname hold relief action for flooded villages of southern Suriname
June 26, 2020 – Publication: Waterkant The water installation company Ish Jamanthy Suriname, in collaboration with the Amazon Conservation Team Suriname, has launched an aid campaign for the residents of affected villages in South Suriname (Sipaliwini district). The indigenous and Maroon villages in this region of Suriname were hit by an extreme thunderstorm last week,…
Read MoreIndigenous concerns increased due to the spread of Covid-19
June 15, 2020 – Publication: De Ware Tijd (DWT Online) PARAMARIBO – Theodoris Jubitana, president of the Association of Indigenous Village Heads in Suriname (VIDS), is deeply concerned that eleven people from the indigenous village of Sipaliwini are infected with the new coronavirus. Referring to President Desi Bouterse’s prediction that if people in the interior…
Read MoreCOVID-19 Response May, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in Amazonia, indigenous and local communities are some of the most vulnerable.
While we have had to leave our offices and field locations and pause many of our projects, we have strategically pivoted to address communities’ most pressing needs in the face of the current global health crisis.
This is how we have reshaped our current priorities in response to COVID-19
Read MoreCOVID-19 Response
This is how we are reshaping our current priorities in response to the pandemic.
Read MoreSustainable Income-Generating Projects in the Forests of Suriname
For indigenous and tribal cultures, increasing involvement in global culture and new technologies, such as mobile phone networks, has led to increasing dependence upon cash income. In Suriname, villages are emptying out as residents increasingly leave their communities for extended periods to seek wages in extractive industries such as logging and mining. Such activities are…
Read MoreLand and history among the Matawai of Suriname
Along the Saramacca River in central Suriname live the Matawai people. They are descendants of Africans who escaped slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries by fleeing into the jungles and fighting for their freedom. In the rainforest, the survival of the Matawai has always depended on an intimate knowledge of their territories. Place-based stories…
Read MoreStorytelling empowers indigenous people to conserve their environments
Indigenous storytelling is a powerful tool for preserving biocultural diversity, says Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares, an environmental researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Having heard stories in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Kenya and Madagascar, he has now proposed that storytelling could transform how conservationists work with native peoples. The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) embodies this philosophy. ACT partners with South American indigenous communities to preserve rainforests and traditional culture.
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