An Overview Of Our Solution
Suriname is the smallest country in South America and is amongst world's poorest countries, with over 70% of its population living under the poverty line. Being the most forested country in the world, Suriname harbors unrivaled natural resources and globally significant biodiversity. Conservation International Suriname (CIS) works across Suriname to protect nature for the benefit of all Surinamese people and the rest of the world. Our mission is to preserve Suriname’s rich biodiversity and ecosystems for the well-being of our current and future generations. Therefore, CIS developed its Wildlife Conservation Program. The outcome is to have brought legal and illegal wildlife trade and hunting exploitation for priority species, to sustainable levels while involving communities in sustainable management of forests.
- Population Impacted: 50.000
- Continent: South America
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Context Analysis
Suriname has been one of the pioneers and leaders in nature conservation since the mid-20th century and has established the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, which, in 2000, was declared a United Nations World Heritage Natural site in recognition of the importance of the country's unique habitats.
In terms of biodiversity, Suriname has:
· extensive, functionally intact coastal wetlands, incl. mangroves, that are of globally importance for migratory birds, and of regional importance as fish and shrimp nurseries.
· a vast pristine rainforest expanse that is globally important as a wildlife refuge and a storehouse of living biodiversity.
· unique savannas, including the Sipaliwini (connected to the Paru in Brazil)
· high diversity of species, several globally endangered, and many Guiana Shield endemics (ca. 5-20 % for different animal groups): 318 species of freshwater fishes, 277 species of herps (102 amphibians and 175 reptiles), 715 species of birds, 192 species of mammals
· high genetic diversity, mainly due to high species diversity.
Suriname is known as one of the major global source countries for parrots, macaws, toucans, songbirds, snakes, frogs, toads, primate and so much more. Most of the trade is legal, as Suriname maintains high export quota compared to any other country in the world, except for Guyana, which is also known for its high wildlife export quota. But as has been proven for decades, where hunting and legal wildlife trade is taking place, illegal trade is also happening, especially when considering the incredible value of wildlife trade globally. In 2017 CIS started collecting data regarding illegal wildlife trafficking and poaching as well as identifying other weaknesses in the current wildlife management system of the country and the impact it has on conservation.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Over the years the capturing and trapping of live wild animals especially in South Suriname has been substantial and already showing signs of over harvesting leading to disappearance of local species. Our solution is the national “Go Wild for Wildlife” (GWFW) awareness campaign that we launched in December 2022.
For the GWFW campaign we selected 8 important wildlife related themes and created beautifully animated videos together with local prominent individuals who are very well known as an artist, a filmmaker/ producer, world champion female kickboxer, an entrepreneur, an activist, an indigenous female village chief, a medical doctor, and an influencer. They cover the following topics: hunting law, wildlife and zoonotic diseases, illegal wildlife trade, and roles and threats of species such as the jaguar, primates, and parrots. For the village primary schools, a lesson plan was created which covers the same subjects and more.
Describe your behavioral intervention.
We strongly believe in community engagement and peer involvement which is why for this campaign we are working with well-known and respected Surinamese people - with a large following, very broad networks and from diverse disciplines and backgrounds – to help us get our message across. By working together and learning about several topics such as the illegal wildlife trade, hunting laws, zoonotic diseases, and the role of predators and seed dispersers for our ecosystem, we are identifying and changing unsustainable patterns. We noticed that in Suriname, few people are aware of the value of wildlife and are convinced that the more they become aware of the value of wildlife, the more they open up to protecting and becoming the voice of these species. Therefore – with this campaign - we are creating a safe space and a ‘cool’ movement for people that speaks to the heart, that holds each other accountable, educates each other and potentially transforms their mindset. We believe in community-based intervention with the community as setting, community as target, community as agent, and community as resource. The goal of our community-based programs is to carefully assess community structures and processes, in advance, of any intervention. In some villages wildlife trade has already been forbidden by the captain.
Behavioral Levers Utilized
As needed, please explain how you utilized the lever(s) in more detail.
Through emotional appeals, the campaign cast aims to reach and positively influence the community/ general public to ultimately become the voice of the animals. We use this strategy in our campaign to persuade the community of the long-term impact of unsustainable wildlife trade on the well-being of the planet and ultimately on humans. Information sharing with large audiences is the main objective of all the campaign videos. The target audience will receive information about key species, ecosystems, and the roles of species in ecosystems, illegal wildlife trade, zoonotic diseases as well as hunting laws, hunting zones, bag limits and fines. The campaign cast consists of very well-known individuals within the Surinamese community. The cast has a great following through various social media channels which they have utilized for sharing and promoting the campaign. We incorporated the rules and regulations regarding wildlife and wildlife trade and hunting throughout the campaign videos.
Describe your implementation
The strong need to create awareness about wildlife in Suriname was identified when CIS’ wildlife program commenced, and during the past years of execution of the program we identified the wildlife issues that have the highest priority to communicate. For example, the illegal trade in jaguars in Suriname became very apparent over the past years and so we chose to focus a part of our campaign on this very important issue. CIS works nationally with different communities, both maroon and indigenous as the Surinamese people living in the coastal zone and capital. Being in the field a lot gives us up to date insight into the wildlife related topics such as hunting, poaching, trade, smuggling and selling. It also gives us up to date insight into the impact on the wild populations on a general level, by own observations and by information provided by the community members. Before the development and launch of the GWFW awareness campaign, we executed awareness campaigns but much more targeted to one single topic and on a much smaller scale. For the GWFW campaign, in South Suriname we started with awareness quizzes which covered hunting areas, hunting laws and regulations, and protected species while in Paramaribo we started developing the awareness videos. This led to the captain of one the villages forbidding community members to send wildlife along flights coming into the village and headed back to the city.
Furthermore, we developed a lesson plan for schools in 3 villages in South Suriname. Before we headed out to the villages to share the campaign videos and pilot the lesson plan, we did a first pilot at a primary school about an hour and a half away from the capital. We selected this school because it is surrounded by savannas, woods and animals and was the closest comparison to the schools in South Suriname. With this pilot we noticed that both teachers and pupils learned a lot and we were able to finetune the lesson plan with our observations.
Describe the leadership for your solution. Who is leading the implementation?
Two teams within CI are working closely together, namely the Wildlife team and the Communication and Development team. The campaign is executed in collaboration with 8 well-known role models that are giving voice to the program. The different voices appeal to different target groups, including the youth. We have had meetings with the campaign cast to discuss how we can optimize the impact of the campaign by using their existing media channels and networks. For example, one celebrity has a weekly hour-long podcast that has 10K viewers and we did an item about GWFW in the podcast. The female indigenous village chief covers the subject of illegal wildlife trade and has a large impact on the indigenous communities where a lot of the wildlife is sourced for the illegal trade in Suriname. The cast also reaches the hindu, maroon and asian community.
Share some of the key partners or stakeholders engaged in your solution development and implementation.
Before the start of this campaign, we did a lot of jaguar-awareness activities because of the major increase in illegal trade in jaguars in Suriname for the Asian market. This phenomenon caught the attention of the Catholic Bishop who initiated the first meeting with CI. With his support we were able to organize a meeting with all religious leaders (Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Lutheran etc.) and the chiefs of the indigenous and tribal communities, regarding the threats both community members and jaguars face. It was the first step to all the jaguar related milestones - such as the National Jaguar Action Plan that was established in 2022. Working with religious and tribal leaders is very powerful because every Surinamese citizen is connected to one of the religions, also the communities in the interior.
Every member of the campaign cast has a different kind of network/ profession. These are:
Ilonka Elmont – 9 times world champion kickboxing – stakeholders are kickboxers, kids and has a lot of media coverage. Micle Fung – he is a Chinese chef on TV and also sells Chinese products – focused in the illegal jaguar trade. Dave van Aerde – he is entrepreneur and has a podcast – has a broad media coverage and writes children books about wildlife. Conchita Alcantara is a female indigenous leader who inspires the indigenous communities and women. Borger Breeveld is a movie producer and has a broad network in the media to reach the general public. Ciciel Lamesie has a maroon background and thereby connects with the maroon communities in the interior with his popularity as an artist. Shivam Achaibar is from the Hindu background and has a young following from not just this ethical group, but also other young people as an influencer. Ruben del Prado is a medical doctor and is on TV often regarding health care and has a following in the general public.
Who adopted the desired behavior(s) and to what degree? Include an explanation of how you measured a change in behavior.
The campaign is still running but we have had some great successes already. After an awareness session about wildlife trade and its impact in one of the indigenous villages in the deep south of Suriname, the Chief of the Trio indigenous peoples decided to adjust the prices of the wildlife that they sell to the animal traders in the city. The latter have been exploiting the indigenous community for decades, causing the animals around the village to disappear, but also paying very low prices for the (legal) wildlife. Due to our campaign this has changed. We are planning to do more of these sessions in different villages in the south. With the launch and the movies on social media, together we expect to have reached at least 50.000 people so far. Also 100 school children and 800 villagers of Kwamalasamutu and positive feedback on the podcast.
How did you impact the environment (biodiversity conservation, ecosystems, etc.)? Please be specific and include measurement methodology where relevant.
We have executed a baseline investigation last year on the numbers of (illegal) wildlife arriving at Zorg & Hoop airport where 60% of the wildlife transits through to be exported or smuggled abroad. – we will repeat this investigation at the end of the campaign. We also want to do a survey at the end of the campaign to measure if the GWFW campaign subjects have reached the public and what they have learned through a social media survey and on the streets with random people.
How has your solution impacted equity challenges (including race, ethnicity, social class/income, indigenous communities, or others)?
The campaign cast was selected with care, meaning that they represent every group within the community. Together they reach different groups including the indigenous communities who are immediately affected by illegal trade. By raising awareness, they get to understand the value chain better and how they can strive to regulate wildlife trade activities. Also, by working with female leaders as campaign cast members we aim to inspire the women in the Surinamese society, and in particular the indigenous, to feel empowered and take a leadership role.
What were some sustainable development co-benefits?
Efficient use of resources, development of non timber forest products, development of wildlife tourism, making the shift from wildlife trade to sustainable wildlife activities.
The disappearance of wildlife from our forests is also a serious threat to the cultural and spiritual identity of many indigenous and other forest dependent communities so the efficient use and development of resources is our common responsibility .
Sustainability: Describe the economic sustainability of your solution.
Most of our projects rely on grant funding but have also local businesses in our Friends of Green Suriname Program to support our nature conservation goals. Grant funding is part of the funding mix for CI Suriname. For CI Suriname, grants make up the bulk of our funding. However, we don’t solely rely on grant funding but look for other sources of funding. In our search we are looking for funders that can fund our priorities and have conservation as their focus and sustainable livelihood development. With our solution we work towards conservation of our forests which allows us to apply for climate financing. This also improves nature tourism which in return creates more employment opportunities.
Return on investment: How much did it cost to implement these activities? How do your results above compare to this investment?
It will cost US 50.000 to complement these activities. Our results are worth the investments by an increase of tourism (about US 100,00 a year per area). Investment for nature/wildlife include a range of finance strategies and mechanisms that seek both positive environmental impacts as well as financial returns to a business owner or investor. In conservation finance terms, there are multiple elements that we could use to make financial investments either beneficial or detrimental for conservation. Nature based investments will reduce harmful impacts on nature and can decrease harmful investments.
How could we successfully replicate this solution in Latin America?
This model is very fitting to replicate to other countries to tackle illegal trade in wildlife. Many Latin American countries are dealing with the same or similar challenges and when the model has proven to be successful it can be replicated and upscaled and act as a blueprint. With this method we can make a difference to conserve biodiversity/wildlife on earth by protecting endangered species. Suriname is willing to share the successes and challenges and the lessons learned for a successful implementation. The model can be tailor-made for every community or village.