#1 MennoWEL or MennoNIET

I published an article on Mennonite interests in Suriname with the above headline. For non-Dutch speakers, wel and niet translates to do or don't. Since the article was published in December 2023, the debate on the nexus of agriculture and biodiversity has shifted. In this series, I try to shed light on issues that are often raised but either incorrect or presented in a confusing way, which is then regularly repeated in different fora.

Statement: agricultural expansion will make us lose our status as "greenest country on earth".

The "greenest country on earth (GCE)" label is part of a media campaign to raise awareness of our unique forest resources. According to the campaign, Suriname has 93% forest cover.

According to the latest FAO definition of a forest , it is any "land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use."

I haven't found a publication to verify this figure but had my doubts whether mangroves and other wetland forests, e.g. Coronie Swamp, were included. However, the FAO makes it clear that forest types that don't grow over 5 meters, e.g. mangroves, can still be considered forest if they cover more than 10%.

While the GCE label is homegrown, there is an internationally agreed definition of High Forest, Low Deforestation (HFLD). These are countries with 50% forest cover, and less than 0,22% annual deforestation. If we use the GCE figure, then Suriname has 93% forest cover and 0,02-0,07% annual deforestation according to SBB (Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control). The concept has been around for several decades and is part of the forest transition theory , first published in 1992.

It should be clear from the number that it will be extremely difficult for Suriname to lose its HFLD status if we increase land under agricultural production. The proposed area for which the Government of Suriname has (apparently) changed its landuse status from forestry to agriculture represents 3% of total land area. If these plans are ever materialized, we would still have 90% forest cover!

In following articles, I will look at the facts underlying other statements that have been made in the media, such as:

• Suriname can receive $2 billion annually from carbon credits. False
• 550K hectares of forest conversion to agriculture can lead to species extinctions. Maybe
• Mennonites have a bad reputation elsewhere in Latin America and should not be allowed to practice agriculture in Suriname. Depends