Central Suriname Nature Reserve

The Head of the Forest Management Service (LBB) is responsible for Reserve management. The Nature Conservation Division (NB) of LBB directs the actual management, supported by the Suriname Foundation for Nature Preservation (STINASU). NB supervises Reserve management, based on the Management Plan developed in 2004 (Vision, 2012). A Project Implementation Unit (PIU) was established in 2009 to support the NCD with implementation of the management plan. By the end of 2010 only 2 employees were still working at the PIU; the others left because of the lack of progress. Project proposals, plans and budgets are still under review by the Forest Service (Middens, 2012). The PIU is currently not functioning (IUCN Consultation, 2017).

Despite considerable effort and investment in the development of the management plan, there is no on-site management capacity. In the Headquarters Area, tourist facilities have been upgraded, but the beginnings of a visitors center stands unfinished. Tourist numbers have not increased as expected and employee homes are in deplorable condition. Although more research buildings were built and a local road improved, the number of active wildlife guards, research activities, and tourist numbers have actually decreased since establishment of the Reserve in 1998 (UNDP, 2012; Meddens, 2011). In June 2017, the research field station at the Voltzberg was rebuilt with the necessary facilities to function as a field camp for tourists and researchers.

There are major mistakes in the coordinates describing the geographical location of the Reserve, and these have not been resolved since creation of the Reserve in 1998 (Middens, 2012). The boundaries have not been demarcated on the ground (WDPA, 2011).

The Reserve was originally established as an alternative to giving the forests in concession to Asian timber companies, and as such was part of a conscious decision by the Suriname government at the highest levels to change its development model (Meddens, 2011). CSNR is among the protected areas positioned as key in the current planning for development of Suriname (RoS, 2015).

Designation of the Reserve is viewed in general, by both national institutions and local communities in the interior, as very positive. However, a consultation and advisory body, which was supposed to be established and include representatives of the most relevant institutions, including the neighbouring tribal communities, never was put into effect; nor is there evidence of projects being undertaken, as was originally planned, to support development of conservation compatible livelihoods as part of a process to engage local people around the Reserve. A draft of a business management model for the CSNR was developed but the plan has not yet been implemented (UNDP, 2012; Vision, 2012; Meddens, 2011; IUCN Consultation, 2014).
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (ITP) with ancestral rights in the area were not involved in decision-making about the establishment of the CSNR. A process was initially established to develop a management plan that did involve some indigenous and tribal representatives, however, their input was later removed and was not reflected in the final plan (MacKay, 2014). ITP organisations have expressed great concern about nature conservation activities not least because Suriname has no legislation to recognize and guarantee their ownership and other rights to traditional lands and territories (MacKay, 2014). Surinamese law does also not cover co-management with ITPs of protected areas. The loss of traditional management due to expropriation, a lack of wildlife guards and the absence of a consensual management plan for ecosystem and species management (MacKay, 2014), might pose a threat to achieving nature conservation objectives and a greater risk of encroachment of logging and mining activities (FPP, 2008; Meddens, 2011; IUCN Consultation, 2020b).

The Reserve was established by State Resolution, but there is little actual law enforcement capacity. Initiatives to revise the current nature protection laws are taking place. The updated laws should make alternative management systems such as public-private partnerships and co-management with local communities possible within nature reserves (IUCN Consultation, 2017).

There is a general lack of on-site management capacity and active wildlife guards.

No Committee decisions have been taken since inscription of the World Heritage site.

Ecotourism and research have been defined as two uses that can maximize benefits to the larger Surinamese community as well as neighboring communities. Though there has been some improvement in visitor facilities, visitation remains at low levels. Research facilities have improved and increased research is taking place. In both cases, current levels of activities are fully sustainable (Vision, 2012; Meddens, 2012).

The Suriname Conservation Fund (SCF) was established in 1999 with the support of Conservation International. Support by the GEF has helped build the Fund’s capital to more than USD18 million to support and aid the long-term development and conservation goals of Suriname, especially management of the Reserve, which is the largest conservation unit in the country (Vision, 2012; Meddens, 2011). However, though funding is available, projects to support management of the Reserve have never been approved or implemented (UNDP, 2012).

UNDP approved a project to strengthen the SCF to enable it to better support conservation management, research, awareness, advocacy, and ecotourism activities. At the same time, the government agencies responsible for protected area management were to be strengthened through the provision of financial and technical capacity building support under this project. However, evaluation of the project revealed a lack of effective implementation because of bureaucratic issues (UNDP Suriname, 2012). There has also been little effort to implement and enforce the management plan and the number of wildlife guards has even decreased since the CSNR was established (MacKay, 2014).

No information available

A tourism master plan was developed for CSNR, however, little progress has been achieved in its implementation. Management of tourism activities is only allowed by the Nature Conservation Division (LBB) and STINASU (semi-government foundation) has the right to organize tourism activities in nature reserves (IUCN Consultation, 2017).
Local ITP communities have derived little in terms of tourism benefits from the CSNR. Despite their traditional knowledge and expertise, they are only eligible for the lowest rungs of employment and are denied training opportunities because they do not “hold sufficient educational qualifications” (MacKay, 2014).

In 2004, the international monitoring and assessment program initiated by CI Washington (TEAM research project), became active in Suriname and in 2006 a research station was built in the Raleighvallen area. The TEAM program has been collecting data on climate, vegetation growth and terrestrial vertebrates since 2008, however, ended in 2017. Data collected from the program has been transferred to Wildlife Insights data (Wildlife Insights, 2020). However, there is no Reserve monitoring program (UNDP, 2012; Meddenz, 2011). A monitoring program for the Reserve was developed along with the CSNR management plan. However, the monitoring program has not been implemented and financing for research was provided to implement the global TEAM program - The Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring Program (IUCN Consultation, 2014).

There is no Reserve research program operating under the auspices of the management authority. However, research has been undertaken in the Reserve for many years, mainly by foreign academic institutions, although studies on population ecology of margays and ocelots as well as lowland tapirs have also been carried out by students for the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. Studies have generally focused on geology, geography, tropical rainforest ecology and forest fruits, and zoological studies including work on monkeys, nightjars and larger animals such as caimans and primates (WDPA, 2011). Recent research on prey composition of Harpy eagles has been published (Miranda, 2020). The Raleighvallen Area, where the Reserve Headquarters are located, has been utilized for scientific studies for many years. Conservation International constructed a research station at the base of Voltzberg Dome and the University of Florida operates a primate research station near Raleighvallen (ISESCO, 2012; WDPA, 2011). The Wildlife Insights project will facilitate more widespread analysis of camera trapping data collected within the Reserve in the future (Wildlife Insights, 2020).