Suriname cancels controversial Mennonite pilot program, but bigger problems loom

The government in Suriname said it cancelled a controversial pilot program that would have brought hundreds of Mennonites to the country to carry out agricultural activity, likely in forested areas.

Suriname President Chan Santokhi confirmed to local media this week that he shuttered a pilot program setting aside 30,000 hectares (74,131 acres) for 50 Mennonite families, easing some fears that the country was on the verge of destroying large parts of the Amazon Rainforest.

“We in the international conservation movement congratulate President Santokhi and the people of Suriname for taking a thoughtful and considered move in deciding how best to manage the country’s resources for the benefit of all the country’s citizens,” said President of Amazon Conservation Team Mark Plotkin.

The three-year pilot program worried opposition politicians, conservation groups and Indigenous communities because of Mennonite colonies’ history of widespread deforestation in other parts of the region.

In Bolivia, colonies have cleared hundreds of thousands of hectares of Amazon Rainforest over the last two decades. In southern Mexico, a handful of colonies have been tied to thousands of hectares of deforestation since the early 2010s. Similar activity in Suriname would threaten the country’s net-negative carbon emission status, critics of the project said.

Currently, the Amazon Rainforest covers nearly 93% of the country’s total surface area.

A representative of Terra Invest, the company facilitating the relocation of the Mennonites, said they wanted more information about what closing the pilot program means. “We haven’t received a response from [Minister of Foreign Affairs Albert Ramdin]. We will wait patiently for this and until then we assume that the Mennonites will come to Suriname,” the representative said in a statement.

Last year, Mongabay published documents detailing the government’s larger plan to develop around 467,000 hectares (1,153,982 acres) of land for agricultural activity, mostly by transferring it to the control of the Ministry of Agriculture. Nearly the entire area is primary forest, according to the documents.

The Mennonite pilot program appears to overlap with the area, suggesting that it was one part of a larger plan to develop agriculture with private entities.

Some conservation groups said stopping the pilot program is a small win but shouldn’t distract from the fact that the government has shown no sign of ending that larger plan, and has declined to comment publicly about its progress.

“People’s takeaway is that the Mennonites are the problem,” said John Goedschalk, former executive director of Conservation International-Suriname. “But the Mennonites are just a symptom of the problem. The real problem is the careless management of our forests and the lack of land rights for Indigenous and tribal communities.”

Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk said last week that Suriname should look to Brazil as an example for developing the national economy, since Brazil has “corn for miles.” One idea that’s been discussed is turning Suriname into a breadbasket for the Caribbean.

Analysis of satellite imagery by Monitoring of the Amazon Project (MAAP), using the maps and documents published by Mongabay, found that development could rise to 560,000 hectares (1,383,790 acres) in order to meet those needs.

Last month, local communities filed an injunction against the plans, saying they were carried out dishonestly and could cause “enormous damage to the environment.” Indigenous and Maroon communities live within the planned area but haven’t been granted ancestral rights to their territory.

Goedschalk also filed a petition with the government demanding answers about its plans for future agriculture projects. He’s worked hard to explain the situation to the general public through appearances on podcasts and interviews with local media outlets.

“There’s definitely no clarity that they’ve given up,” Goedschalk said of the government. “And let me be very clear: I’m not going to give up, either.

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

See related from this reporter:

Outcry over deforestation as Suriname’s agriculture plans come to light

Watch a report about the impact of Mennonite colonies in Peru:

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