Departing from the GCCA+ Office from Paramaribo and driving 3 hours by bus and travelling 2 hours by boat, we encounter Pikien Slee, the second largest village along the Suriname river in the Upper Suriname area in the district Sipaliwini of Suriname. A Marroon community belonging to the ‘Samaaka’ tribe composed of 3000 people, only accessible by boat. The people of Pikien Slee live from agriculture, hunting and fishing. Another key source of income for a group of maroon men is timber arts and crafts. This group of which members live by the Rastafari traditions, created the Totomboti Foundation. In recent years, the foundation and their wood crafts have become increasingly popular attracting tourists and people from other parts of Suriname to the village.  

Villages in the Upper Suriname area have felt the effects of climate change as they’ve been confronted with severe floods in 2006, affecting their livelihoods, leading to migration of villagers.

 “We live in the forests and from the plants and animals in the forest, the environment is an important factor for our livelihood and being” says Head Captain Wasen. 

Per formal request of Basja Edje, after his experience as participants at a similar event in the capital Paramaribo, the GCCA+ Suriname Adaptation Project and the Japan Caribbean Climate Change Project (JCCCP), hosted a knowledge sharing event in relation to World Environment Day in villages in Upper Suriname from June 5th till June 8th.

The theme this year is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution”.

The request from Basja Edje was supported because the difficult access and high costs for transportation deprive these communities from key information on important subjects such as climate change, the impact it has on their lives and how men, women and children could adapt to or mitigate these.

Nine (9) environmental organizations who are actively involved in the current GCCA+ Project, financed by the European Union the Government of Suriname and the UNDP, were mobilized to share the message on Climate change and plastic pollution in these remote areas. The participants were fascinated to listen to interactive presentations, play games and enjoy story-telling.

GCCA+, JCCCP and the partners informed the children and community members on the subjects of climate change adaptation, nature conservation, sustainable use of water related to climate change adaptation and plastic pollution. 

From the surrounding villages Foetoenakaba and Grantatai, about 50 primary schoolchildren and their teachers arrived for the first session, by boat at Pikin Slee to join the event, which was set up as a fair, with different tents and stations. The children rotated in small groups through each station, participating actively in each session. The second session, involved a presentation for 80 very enthusiastic children of the village Pikien Slee itself. 

The program started with a stage performance that conveys the message of climate change and its impacts in a fun and comedic way to the audience. The presentation by theater group ‘Four messengers’, formed by 6 adolescent boys from Marowijne District in the East of Suriname was very well received. 

Highlights of the event were activities such as the 3D map of the Upper Suriname area, designed by Tropenbos International Suriname. Children were very excited to pinpoint their living areas on the 3D designed map.

The organization also included the kid’s creativity by having the students make group paintings, which were officially handed over to their schools. The Suriname REDD+ Project also did storytelling focusing on the importance of preserving our forests. Suresur (Stichting Support Recycling Suriname) was also a partner and focused on the importance of recycling plastic waste. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) were also a highlight; presented by the volunteers of Suricorps, in the form of an interactive card game. 

In the afternoon, the session focused on the adult community members. 

There were about 100 community members, mostly women actively participating in the event. 

On day two (2); the knowledge sharing event also went to nearby village Goejaba, the biggest village in the Upper Suriname area. In Goeyaba a similar program was done for about 300 primary schoolchildren and community members. Doisie Adipi the head captain of Goejaba, was actively involved during the event.

In total the 2-day event increased the understanding of climate change and plastic pollution of about 500 children and community members in a playful and collaborative manner. 

Due to the format of the event this also served to strengthen the relationship with the 9 environmental partner organizations, working as advocates and enablers for climate change adaptation. The event served as a best practice to mobilize partner organizations to advocate on climate change issues in hard to reach areas in Suriname that suffer the most from the adverse effects of Climate Change.

The participating organizations were:

• NIMOS REDD+ with general information on climate change and plastic pollution

• SURESUR; giving short lessons on recycling related to climate change adaptation

• Amazon Conservation Team Suriname; Park Rangers

• Tropenbos International Suriname; general information on climate change adaptation 

• Suricorps: SDG’s awareness related to climate change and plastic pollution, through a child friendly card game

• Rode Kruis Suriname; a game related to climate change adaptation

• Waterforum Suriname: sustainable use of water related to climate change adaptation

• Nature Conservation Division; general information on nature conservation

• Four Messengers; stage performance on Climate Change Adaptation 

The traditional authority of the villages of Pikin Slee and Goejaba, were very appreciative of the GCCA+ Suriname Adaptation and the JCCCP project and all its partners for hosting the knowledge sharing event in the surrounding villages. Head Captain Wasen hopes that the knowledge on climate change and practices on reducing its effects, is spread further to other remote areas in Upper and South Suriname. The event was an example of a best practice, to bring information to communities, which must be expanded on, spreading the message on climate change and adaptation.