Suriname moves to evict Mennonites and illegal Amazon settlers
The government in Suriname has started toughening up on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, speaking at an Aug. 4 press briefing. In recent months, officials have started investigating illegal settlements and revising zoning for hundreds of thousands of hectares of mostly […]
The Surinamese government is taking stricter measures against illegal land developers who are clearing the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons. Many of these areas are associated with Mennonite communities, a conservative Christian group that migrated to Suriname with plans to establish religious farming settlements.
Geerlings-Simons stated that individuals actively involved in clearing land for settlement are doing so illegally and face consequences. In 2023, Mongabay reported on a pilot program involving private agribusiness investors who were working with the government to relocate around 1,000 Mennonite families from Bolivia or other regions onto up to 30,000 hectares of land in Suriname's interior.
Additionally, the government had plans to transfer approximately 467,000 hectares of primary rainforest from the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for future agribusiness projects.
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