For immediate release
September 27, 2025
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During Climate Week in New York City, the government of Suriname made a historic and ambitious pledge at the Global Citizen NOW: Impact Sessions—the country will protect 90% of its forest cover in perpetuity. The commitment comes several weeks before COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where countries will meet to negotiate agreements to reduce carbon emissions and to protect at least 30% of their land and oceans by the end of the decade. Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Melvin W. J. Bouva made the announcement at the event on behalf of Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons.
Suriname’s tropical forests are part of the Amazon rainforest, the largest in the world, spanning nine countries. The commitment comes as deforestation across the Amazon increased by 27% this year and Amazonian Indigenous communities fight for recognition of their territories and their rights.
“We understand and accept the immense responsibility of stewarding over 15 million hectares of tropical rainforest in a world that is seeing her forests fall day in and day out,” said President Geerlings-Simons. “And it is because of this responsibility that we are envisioning an economy that is powered by our rich forests and biodiversity while providing decent jobs and incomes for all our citizens.”
The pledge comes three days after President Geerlings-Simons committed to updating the country’s protected area legislation by the end of the year. The new law will allow for improved approaches to legally protecting Suriname’s vast forests, and could be a step toward recognizing and protecting the ancestral lands of the country’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. The regulatory framework will help support nature tourism and bioeconomy industries and allow for more opportunities in the carbon market.
“I've worked in Suriname for 50 years and I am absolutely delighted that President Geerlings-Simons has made this historic and unprecedented commitment to maintain Suriname's forest cover at this level within her first two months in office,” said Russell Mittermeier, chief conservation officer at Re:wild. “This sets a new standard for the Amazonian region as a whole, which has suffered from serious deforestation in recent decades. President Geerlings-Simons is also strongly focused on supporting Indigenous and Maroon land rights, and catalyzing ecotourism and cultural tourism, for which Suriname is very well-suited. Her leadership is truly unprecedented, and Suriname's future has never been brighter.”
Suriname has the highest forest cover of any country in the world. Approximately 93% of the country is covered in tropical forest, most of which is primary forest, untouched by logging, mining, agriculture or other forms of development or extractive industries. It’s one of three countries that is a carbon sink and absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits. Suriname’s forests sequester more than 900 million metric tons of carbon, making them important for efforts to address climate change and protect biodiversity.
A coalition of supporters, including Rainforest Trust, Art into Acres, the Andes Amazon Fund, the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation and Re:wild, committed $20 million to work with in-country partners to establish and manage protected and conserved areas that bring sustainable jobs through ventures such as ecotourism.
“President Geerlings-Simons and her government’s commitment to protect over 90% of Suriname’s forests is nothing short of historic,” said Rainforest Trust CEO James Deutsch. “It signals to the world that Suriname is ready to lead, not only in words, but in action, in protecting nature and tackling climate change. Rainforest Trust is proud to join the coalition of donors in supporting this vision.”
Suriname has 22 protected areas and its forests are home to thousands of wildlife species. More than 100 species of amphibians live in Suriname, including the striking okopipi (blue poison dart frog). Highly charismatic mammals, such as lowland tapirs, jaguars, giant river otters and eight primate species range throughout the country. Harpy eagles and scarlet macaws are some of the more than 700 bird species in the country.
Global Citizen NOW: Impact Sessions is an action-focused, high-level convening of leaders from government, civil society, philanthropy, and the private sector, working together to take tangible action on the world’s most urgent challenges across climate, development, and finance.
Additional quotes
John Goedschalk, CEO, Climate Change and Biodiversity Advisory Services
“The significance of this law is not to be underestimated. This legislation will form the cornerstone of conservation in Suriname for generations to come. It will essentially democratize conservation by making it inclusive, accessible and economically viable through the introduction of biospheres, Indigenous community conservation areas and the trade of ecosystem services. This is opening Suriname up to not only new and effective models of conservation, but it will transform the forest into the green economic engine for the country. I therefore invite more investors and donors to come and join the existing group that has taken the first step in supporting Suriname.”
Chris Jordan, Latin America director, Re:wild
“Re:wild has a long history of working with Suriname’s government, environmental NGOs, and Indigenous Peoples, and we are continually inspired by the country’s unique cultures and intact forests. By protecting what makes Suriname distinctive and beautiful, and by honoring the power of nature itself, this administration is safeguarding benefits not only for its people, but for the planet as a whole. We hope their leadership and truly high ambition inspires other nations to follow suit.”
Megan MacDowell, executive director, Andes Amazon Fund
“We would like to congratulate Suriname for the announcement to protect at least 90% of its forests and its vision to build an economy rooted in nature protection that maintains its status as the greenest country on Earth.”
Haley Mellin, founder, Art into Acres
“With vision and leadership, we can do more, together. Suriname’s commitment to protect more than 90% of its forests is an extraordinary act of global leadership at the hands of their new president. Suriname is showing the world that safeguarding nature, defending Indigenous and Tribal rights, and building sustainable futures can go hand in hand. This pledge sets a powerful example for all nations ahead of COP30.”
Enrique Ortiz, senior program director, Andes Amazon Fund
“Suriname's announcement to protect at least 90% of its forests is a crucial initiative for maintaining the ecological integrity and connectivity of the Guianas and the broader Amazonian biome, a region critical for global biodiversity and climate regulation. Suriname’s intact forests serve as an important climate adaptation corridor for species in northeastern Amazonia.”
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Photo: Suriname’s Voltzberg Mountain, part of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve in the Amazon Rainforest. (Photo by Chris Jordan, Re:wild)
Andes Amazon Fund
Since 2014, Andes Amazon Fund (AAF) has worked with more than 40 local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) partners to conserve the biodiversity, ecosystems, and environmental integrity of the greater Andes and Amazon regions of South America. AAF supports the creation and expansion of protected areas and the legal recognition of Indigenous lands with an integrated approach where nature and local communities can flourish. AAF also seeks to ensure effective management systems are in place for the newly designated areas and to identify longer-term financing options for their protection. To date, AAF has supported the creation of new conservation areas spanning more than 49 million acres (19 million hectares) in over 200 sites in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia. Once these areas are established, AAF provides start-up management funding as well as technical assistance as they seek public and private financing mechanisms to ensure the continuity of the protection of these areas while benefiting local communities. Learn more at andesamazonfund.org and follow our work on social media here: Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook.
Art into Acres
Art into Acres is an artist-founded initiative that connects art and ecosystem conservation. Focusing on locally-led land, freshwater, and marine conservation, the initiative works by transitioning proceeds from the sale of artworks into funding the permanent protection of old-growth forests, wetlands, and other areas. The focus is on projects led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities in places of high biodiversity and betadiversity, in collaboration with local and international organizations. Participation, learning and connection are key tenants to the work. Learn more at artintoacres.org and Instagram.
Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation
The Liz Claiborne & Art Ortenberg Foundation is dedicated to the survival of wildlife and wildlands and to the vitality of human communities with which they are inextricably linked. The Foundation emphasizes a community-based approach to conservation. It recognizes the imperative to reconcile nature preservation with human needs and aspirations and favors solutions that directly benefit local communities and serve as exemplars for saving species and wildlands. It supports the use of good science to inform sound public policies, and the importance of collaboration and cooperation in crafting solutions to habitat protection, responsible natural resource management and sustainable economies.
Rainforest Trust
Since 1988, Rainforest Trust has been working with partners to safeguard imperiled tropical habitats and threatened species by helping to establish protected and conserved areas in partnership with Indigenous and local organizations and communities. To date, Rainforest Trust has helped protect more than 58 million acres of vital habitat across Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Rainforest Trust is a nonprofit organization that relies upon the generous support of the public to successfully implement its important conservation action. The organization is proud of earning a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. Learn more about the work of Rainforest Trust by visiting RainforestTrust.org, X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Re:wild
Re:wild protects and restores the wild. We have a singular and powerful focus: the wild as the most effective solution to the interconnected climate, biodiversity and human wellbeing crises. Founded by a group of renowned conservation scientists together with Leonardo DiCaprio, Re:wild is a force multiplier that brings together Indigenous peoples, local communities, influential leaders, nongovernmental organizations, governments, companies and the public to protect and rewild at the scale and speed we need. Learn more at rewild.org
Contact
Lindsay Renick Mayer
Re:wild
lrenickmayer@rewild.org
512-686-6225
Devin Murphy
Re:wild
dmurphy@rewild.org
512-686-6188
Lindsay is the Director of Media Relations for Re:wild and has a particular interest in leveraging communications to inspire conservation action. Lindsay is passionate about species-based conservation and finding compelling ways to tell stories that demonstrate the value of all of the planet’s critters, big and microscopic.
