Saamaka people use technology to protect Amazon rainforest

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 26 Oct, 14:01 · Archive

The Saamaka people of Suriname are using satellite mapping and GPS technology to document illegal logging and mining on their ancestral lands.

The Saamaka people of Suriname are using modern technology to document and defend their ancestral lands in the Amazon rainforest as roads, logging and gold mining encroach deeper into their territory. Community patrols equipped with satellite imagery and GPS mapping track incursions across their forests.

Members of the Saamaka community, including 31-year-old Navaldo Vola, have recently discovered evidence of illegal activity on their land. Deep in the rainforest near Ebbatop mountain, they found an abandoned excavator fitted with an attachment designed to fell trees. A day earlier, they discovered a makeshift camp containing packets of masala powder and bottles of soy sauce, which they believed had been used by Chinese loggers. Higher up the mountain, they found another abandoned camp with plastic tarp and aluminum mugs.

'We knew that some people come here, but we didn't know that they are doing logging,' Vola said. 'This part is supposed to be untouched.' The residents of Tutubuka, officially known as Nieuw Aurora, along the Upper Suriname River, hope the evidence they gather will secure government recognition of their traditional forest management system. An international court ordered Suriname nearly two decades ago to recognise the Saamaka's collective land rights, though the ruling has largely remained unfulfilled.

How it is being reported

• Suriname’s Saamaka tribe turns to mapping and documenting in effort to protect the Amazon rainforestThe Saamaka people in Suriname are using modern technology to map their ancestral lands.News4Jax · 26 Oct, 13:36
• Suriname’s Saamaka tribe turns to mapping and documenting in effort to protect the Amazon rainforestThe Saamaka people in Suriname are using modern technology to map their ancestral lands.Clickorlando · 26 Oct, 13:36

In this story: Saamaka · Suriname · Navaldo Vola · Tutubuka · Nieuw Aurora · Upper Suriname River · Ebbatop · Amazon

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