Suriname receives a visit from the Bioamazon Project team

This was de fifth monitoring visit of the project to an Amazonian country

ACTO´s Bioamazon Project has invested about 360 thousand dollars in equipment to be used by Surname´s environmental institutions such as the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environment of Suriname, the Herbarium, the National Zoological Collection Suriname, the Permanent Secretary Forest Management, the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control and CITES Scientific Authority. This August, during the visit the Bioamazon Project team paid a visit to Suriname to carry out monitoring activities and a field agenda, the donation of the equipment was formalized, which included computers (desktop and notebooks), servers, printers, photographic trapping cameras, beamers, wifi router drone and a car for field work.

The aim is to contribute to the strengthening of institutions responsible for generating technical-scientific information on biodiversity and CITES species, as well as strengthening the actions of management, monitoring and control of species of wild fauna and flora threatened by trade. The donation was possible through the support of the German Development Bank (KFW), the financial partner of ACTO.

“On behalf of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, I want to thank the German Development Bank for the important and significant financial support that make these actions possible and, above all, thank and congratulate all the institutions involved in the implementation of the Bioamazon Project in Suriname for the excellent work, and for the commitment and professionalism”, said Mauro Ruffino, Bioamazon Project coordinator.

 

New building

There was also an opportunity to inaugurate the new building for CITES Authorities.

 

 

Achievements

During the Bioamazon Project workshop held in Paramaribo on August 22th, the implementation of the project in Suriname was evaluated. The main results are:

• a number of purchases have been made of IT equipment, electronic equipment and field equipment for the Ministry of GBB and SBB, ROM, Herbarium and NZCS;
• upgrading SFISS by BASIS is completed;
• the development of an e-permitting and wildlife management system for the Ministry of GBB (licenses department) is finished;
• the link between the Single Window System with LBB’s e-permitting system was made;
• a population survey of three parrot species was carried out;
• a legislative review on the implementation of the CITES Convention in Suriname is ongoing.

A workshop was also carried out to present the Amazon Regional Observatory in detail to Suriname´s actors. They were introduced to the conceptual scope, advances and status of data collection, as well as the generation of an agenda for future integration by the institutions of the countries, in addition, to the Amazon Node in the GBIF. It was presented the thematic and integrating modules (Biodiversity, Forests, Water Resources, CITES Species, Indigenous Peoples, Climate Change), the Information Services, access to data (download) and interoperability with the ARO.

 

Field trip

The field trip in Suriname was to experience an inspection of timber transport and timber export by the Control Post of the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB) to verify the inspection of timber transport using the Suriname Sustainable Forest Information System (SFISS). The system was developed with ACTO co-financing it through by the Bioamazon Project and the support of the German Development Bank (KfW) to promote sustainable forest management in Suriname.

   

Inspection of timber transport using the Suriname Sustainable Forest Information System (SFISS)

 

Birds

The Company “Exotic Fauna NV & Omni Pets”, which exports parrots and macaws, and also raises several species of parrots in captivity, was visited. The owner, Mr. Charles Bousaid, explained the process from the production chain to export. The Head Game Warden Permit Section (Captive Breeding), Mr. Raven Kartoikromo, explained the control and enforcement process carried out by the Nature Conservation Division of the Suriname Forest Service of the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management.

Suriname’s wildlife management system will facilitate the process of e-permit CITES for export.  The Bioamazon Project financed population study of three species of parrot species that will be the base for non-detriment findings or these species and to allow Suriname to establish a voluntary export quota that will be submitted to the CITES Secretariat.

     

Suriname’s wildlife management system will facilitate the process of e-permit CITES for export

 

Published in the Bioamazon Newsletter, issue n. 16, July-August 2022.

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