Being on a map means to exist: the Saramaccan experience

Saramaccan communities in Suriname seek government’s recognition of their traditional knowledge

On 23 February 2016, 18 Saramaccan community representatives from the Brownsweg and Upper Suriname River areas met in the capital city, Paramaribo, with key stakeholders and policymakers. The meeting was organised by the Saramaccan Peoples to share the results of a two-year process which led to the visualisation and documentation of their traditional environmental knowledge over a vast area.

Maps generated using data extracted from the 1:15000 scale participatory 3D model of the Brownsweg area (manufactured in November 2015), combined with the digital elevation model obtained from the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control, Suriname.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words and maps may be even more effective in conveying messages when it comes to resource distribution and access. In fact the outcome of the process – which the Saramacca delegates proudly presented at the meeting – consisted of a series of community-generated physical and digital maps.

The maps and various data sets were produced in Saramaccan, English, and Dutch languages as a result of three Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) exercises that took place in 2014 and 2015, involving 220 residents, including women, youth and the elderly. A film documentary about the process was released in 2015 in Saramaccan, English, and French.


Saramaccan leaders highlighted the uniqueness of the data the communities were able to collate, geo-reference and visualise using highly sophisticated technology, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Benefitting from external technical support, knowledge-holders were able to share their mental maps and memories which were used to populate blank 3D models.

The Saramaccan representatives drew attention to the relevance and accuracy of the data, and its accessibility to third parties, provided free prior informed consent for their use was given. "We made the map for it to be used. We want other people to make use of it. We only ask that the data is not used without involving us, the Saramaccan Peoples," concluded a community representative.

The Saramaccan delegates welcomed the use of the data for spatial planning purposes and called on the government and private investors to recognise them as key stakeholders and fully involve them when planning logging activities, protected area management and gold mining concessions within traditional Saramaccan lands.

They urged for the replication of P3DM processes in the rest of the Saramaccan territory so that a complete map of traditional Saramacca lands could be generated. To achieve this, they called on the government, development organisations, private sector, and NGOs present at the meeting to raise the necessary funds.

The event was hosted by Tropenbos International Suriname, WWF Guyanas and the Association of Saamaka Authorities.

In addition to Tropenbos International Suriname, project sponsors included the UNDP-GEF Small Grant Programme and CTA. Contributions by both organisations were duly acknowledged, with participants stating that their valuable contribution established a 'fertile ground' for community empowerment via P3DM which they considered to be a very innovative process. Participants also acknowledged that the P3DM process had inspired other communities who were now requesting support to deploy the P3DM process in their areas.

Related blogposts:

• Saramakan’s forests: watercourses at the core of a Participatory 3D Modelling exercise along the Upper Suriname River (10 September 2014)
• Les forêts des Saramaca : les cours d'eau au coeur d'un exercice de modélisation participative en trois dimensions le long du Haut Suriname (10 September 2014)
• Saamaka peoples upscale the use Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling along the Upper Suriname River (08 August 2015)

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Saamaka peoples upscale the use Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling along the Upper Suriname River

In partnership with Tropenbos International Suriname (TBI), WWF, and the Association of Saamaka Authorities (VSG), CTA introduced the Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) process in Suriname in 2014. Due to the successful outcome of the 1st exercise, VSG – supported by TBI – applied for support from UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) for extending the mapped area and upscale the community based planning exercise along the Upper Suriname River, towards the interior of the country.

Once GEF-SGP released the funds, a second P3DM exercise took place in June and July 2015. Areas that are important for the community’s way of life, particularly areas with high cultural and historical value were at the core of the process. Over an 11-day period, a total of ~65 representatives from 10 villages traveled to the village of Pikin Slee, to collectively determine a representative portion of Saamaka traditional land as a 3D physical map (built at a 1:15,000 scale).

The map was conceived with the specific objective of empowering local communities to play an active role in sound land-use and sustainable development. Saamaka participants populated the 3D model with locations of ecosystem services and cultural and historical landscape of value. With this, P3DM is demonstrating its utility in both socio-ecological production landscape based research, as well as in collaborative historical, cultural and ethno-archaeology studies in Suriname.

In this context, Tropenbos International Suriname is collaborating with the History Department of the Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Faculty of Humanity so that historical and contemporary cultural landscape use and services are better portrayed.

Notes: The project is granted to the Association of Saamaka Authorities (VSG), executed by Tropenbos International Suriname and financially supported by the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme. CTA supported the participation of 2 delegates from CARIBSAVE in the exercise to ensure wider replication of the process in the Caribbean region.

More on 2014 P3DM activities in Suriname:

• Suriname - 15 July, 2015. Mapping the livelihoods of the Saamaka people.
• Saramakan’s forests: watercourses at the core of a Participatory 3D Modelling exercise along the Upper Suriname River
• The film “The enabling power of participatory 3D mapping among the Saramaccan People of Suriname” launched at CWA2014

Saramakan’s forests: watercourses at the core of a Participatory 3D Modelling exercise along the Upper Suriname River

JAW JAW, SURINAME, 6 September 2014. From Atjoni, Suriname, it takes 40 minutes by motorised longboat to reach Jaw Jaw, a village sprinkled along the shores of the mighty upper Suriname River. This area is home to approximately 17,000 Afro-Surinamese people belonging to the Saramakan tribe. These people survive on shifting cultivation, fishing, hunting, harvesting of timber and non-timber forests products, boat transport services, government employment and remittances from outside the area.

Saramaka Peoples populating the 3D model
with recollections from memory

Over a 10-day period some 100 representatives from 14 villages (representing a population of approximately 5,000 people) bordering the Suriname River downstream of the village of Lespansi worked together to assemble a stunning 1:15,000 scale three-dimensional (3D) physical map of an area covering approximately 2,160 km2. Youngsters (mainly girls) from Jaw Jaw village assembled the blank model under the guidance of representatives from Tropenbos International Suriname and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA). Saramakan adults (men and women), including elders, populated the model with 38 types of feature they consider relevant for their orientation, livelihoods and culture.

The village representatives populated the map with features they consider as relevant for their orientation, livelihoods and culture. The final map legend account for a total of 38 features depicted as points (21), lines (9) and polygons (8). With free prior and informed consent obtained from community representatives, the datasets were captured using high-resolution digital photography and will be digitised and imported into a GIS environment held in trust by Tropenbos.

In the process of populating the 3D model with information, it appeared that – in the absence of outstanding landmarks like hills or mountains  (the mapped area is relatively flat) – the Saramaka used water courses to orient themselves on the map. Hence, they first had to discuss and reach general consensus on the location and names of all watercourses in the areas they were concerned with. This led them to identify five types of watercourses, differentiated according to width, navigability and seasonal accessibility by boat.

Participants in the closing ceremony

On Saturday, 6 September 2014, representatives of the local communities presented their work to representatives of government agencies (the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, the Commission on Ordering of the Gold Mining Sector in Suriname [OGS] and the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control [SBB]), CTA, the Foundation for Development of the Hinterlands (FOB) and non-governmental organisations (WWF-Guianas, Tropenbos International Suriname, Amazon Conservation Team [ACT], the Association of Indigenous Village Chiefs in Suriname [VIDS]), community-based organisations (Wan Mama Pikin and The Association of Saramaka Authorities [VSG]), the private sector (Lodgeholders upper Suriname River [LBS]) and the national media (DWT and Surinaamse Televisie Stichting [STVS]).

The local community representatives presented the 3D map and explained the process that led to the formulation of the map legend and its fine-tuning and updating and described the animated discussions that led to the population of the blank model. Proudly, they stated that the model will be hosted within one of their villages that is easily accessible to outsiders to facilitate negotiations and planning processes. The villagers now consider the 3D model as a tool for planning their own development and interacting with developers, investors and policy makers.

The head of Jaw Jaw village, Mr Erwin Fonkel, made a key point in his interview with STVS TV: “I find this mapping exercise very important, because in the past we did some mapping but failed to include a lot of information. Now we have elaborated the map ourselves and we had a stronger voice on defining its content. In maps produced in the past several important locations, creeks and places where you can find resources and generate income, were not included.”

The Productive Landscape Programme of Tropenbos International Suriname and the Capacity Building Strategy for Land Use Planning in Suriname of WWF Guianas will use the 3D model to involve stakeholders in elaborating land-use scenarios and conducting participatory assessments of ecosystem services. As anticipated by several local captains, the 3D model, now under the custodianship of the Saramaka people, will be used to elaborate proposals for investments in local infrastructure and sustainable development such as electrification and ecotourism.

View of the Upper Suriname River at Jaw Jaw

Jaw Jaw village around the community meeting point where the
3D model was manufactured

Note: This activity took place in the context of the project “Modelling trade-offs between land-use scenarios and ecosystem services in the upper Suriname River area”. The CTA-funded participatory mapping component  was conceived to empower local communities to have a voice and play an active role in managing their land and natural resources and decision-making processes that affect these.