With the creation of a massive new nature reserve in the South American country of Suriname, millions of acres of rainforest– and the rich biodiversity they contain– will be saved from logging. But the legal protection of this area is only a first step. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.
We’re listening to the music of the Saramakaner people, one of the many ethnic groups which inhabit the areas bordering the reserve.
“So what we have as a result of this action taken by the Suriname government, is a major reserve that covers 1.6 million hectares, about 4 million acres, an area that’s about the size of New Jersey. It’s one of the few protected areas that can be considered truly pristine.”
Russ Mittermeier is President of Conservation International.
“So a small country like Suriname, already with the creation of this reserve has locked up 12 percent of it’s land area in perpetuity for itself, but also for the global community. In recognition if this, it’s really incumbent on us to help them to develop in the most environmentally sound ways possible. Clearly if conservation is going to be successful over the long term, it has to have the strong involvement, and in fact the support of local people, of local communities who live in this region, who live around key protected areas and whose survival, first and foremost, depends on the maintenance of healthy ecosystems in these regions. And what we do when we go into an area like this is we try to develop economic alternatives for these people so they don’t have to destroy the natural ecosystem , but if we work with them and help them to improve the quality of their life, there’s a quid pro quo as well that they have to do something to help to maintain these natural areas.”
Additional funding for this Pulse of the Planet has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.