Vision

Suriname is the greenest country in the world forever with a prosperous and happy population.

Mission

To preserve Suriname’s rich biodiversity and ecosystems for the well being of our current and future generations.

Our earliest initiatives focused on unlocking the potential of traditional knowledge and medicinal plants to generate sustainable income for Indigenous and tribal communities. Through the International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups project, we broke new ground on intellectual property rights, supported community development, and enriched Suriname’s national botanical inventory.

In 1998, we signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Suriname to establish the 1.6 million-hectare Central Suriname Nature Reserve (CSNR). Within just six months, the Reserve was formally created, and by 2000, it earned recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To safeguard its long-term future, the Suriname Conservation Foundation was founded in 2000, with major contributions from Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, and the Government of Suriname.

In 2000, Conservation International designed Suriname’s first national ecotourism development plan, helping the sector grow into the country’s third-largest source of foreign income. Between 2000 and 2007, we worked in Raleighvallen (CSNR) to develop it as a model site for niche-market ecotourism. From 2006 to 2008, in close partnership with the Trio community of Kwamalasamutu, we co-created Suriname’s first community-owned and managed eco-lodge within an 18,000-hectare sanctuary. This sanctuary protects the sacred Werehpai caves, home to remarkable petroglyphs discovered in 2000 by Kamanja Paneshekung, a community member and one of our dedicated fieldworkers.