The map is a map of Suriname and its major cities. I included this map because you should become familiar with Suriname’s cities while traveling here. The next picture shows a type of lizard that lives in Suriname’s Amazon Rainforest. The last picture shows a nighttime view of the Amazon River Basin that runs through Suriname. There are a couple canoes to the right of the picture.
According to http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20suriname.htm, “Suriname's extensive forest cover and low population, about 400,000 concentrated in the capital and coastal cities, give it one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world. Only 5 percent of the population lives in the rainforest; this includes indigenous peoples and six tribes of Maroons—descendants of escaped slaves who recreated forest communities centuries ago and today retain their traditional West African style (ironic since West Africa's rainforests are depleted). Conflicts between the coastal population and the natives of the forested interior manifested themselves in a bloody six-year civil war that was resolved in 1992 with the signing of a peace treaty. Under the treaty, the interior and indigenous populations have the right to their indigenous lands and to control economic activity on those lands.”
“Despite being ranked by the World Bank as among the 17 potentially richest countries in the world, given its gold, oil, diamond, and other natural resources, Suriname in the early 1990s was in a dire economic situation. It had virtually no international trade, dilapidated industries, no foreign aid, and a budget with spending exceeding revenues by 150 percent.”
“By the mid-1990s, the government—desperate for cash—granted large concessions to foreign timber and mining interests. Some 25 percent of the country was put up for logging by Malaysian and Indonesian timber firms. The terms of the agreement, full of loopholes, granted forest land at less than $35 an acre ($262 m for 7.5 m acres). Analysis of the figures showed that while loggers stood to make more than US$28 million annually over the 25-year concession, Suriname would only earn get US$2 million per year. Further, according to forestry experts, the only profitable way to log regions in Suriname is by clear-cutting.”
Finish your questions and let’s move onto the final country! Venezuela here we come!
