Lying just north of Brazil between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname is known among biologists as a rainforest Arcadia, with a miniscule deforestation rate—0.07% per year—and the world’s most extensive forest cover per capita. But illegal gold mining, logging and road building have begun taking a toll. In response, two semi-nomadic indigenous tribes in the heart of Suriname’s Amazon have joined forces to protect a pristine tract of forest covering over 40% of the country. The so-called “declaration of cooperation,” presented March 5 to Suriname’s National Assembly by the Trio and Wayana tribes, aims to create an indigenous conservation corridor of 72,000 square kilometers (28,000 square miles) in southern Suriname, the most unspoiled part of the nation. It bans commercial gold... [Log in to read more]