SURINAME | CENTRAL SURINAME NATURE RESERVE
In 1998, my late husband, Jeff Harbers, and I made a strategic contribution to Conservation International to preserve some of the planet's most remote, ancient, and pristine wilderness. We chose to focus on Suriname, creating the Central Suriname Nature Reserve (CSNR). Spanning over 1.6 million hectares (about 4 million acres) of tropical forest — approximately 12% of Suriname’s landmass — the reserve protects critical watersheds for the country’s major river systems and supports a remarkable diversity of plant and animal species, many of which remain undocumented by science but have been integral to the lives and knowledge systems of Indigenous communities. The CSNR also connects three of Suriname’s most significant existing nature reserves, forming a vital ecological corridor.
After Jeff’s untimely death, I traveled to Suriname with a team that included Russ Mittermeier of Conservation International and board members from the Harbers Foundation to witness first-hand what kind of impact we had made. Along with an extraordinary diversity of plant and animal life, we saw miles of clean rivers and a tree canopy stretching as far as the eye could see. We also met with indigenous Trio communities and Maroon communities — descendants of Africans who escaped slavery and established thriving cultures in the region — to discuss collaborative strategies for protecting their natural resources that would also secure their economic future.
Much of the CNSR is unexplored, and the full extent of the area’s biodiversity is still unknown. This underscores the critical importance of safeguarding this extraordinary forest, which is vital not only to biodiversity and freshwater but also to the health of our planet.