EXPLORE the Central Suriname Nature Reserve with this slideshow, check the location map and get all the facts and information below.
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Location and Values: The Central Suriname Nature Reserve covers a vast area of primary tropical forest in the headwaters of Suriname’s major rivers, accounting for 11% of the national territory and covering a range of elevation from 25m to 1,230m a.s.l. It includes a variety of distinct habitats, from lowland rainforest and swamp forest to montane forest communities, with some distinctive granite inselbergs and an extensive area of high savanna on the summit of a sandstone Table Mountain (or ‘tepui’, similar to those elsewhere along the Guiana Shield including the world heritage sites of Canaima and Chiribiquette). The diversity of habitats and vast size of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve support an extraordinary number of plant and animal species, many of which remain to be recorded but include at least 5,000 species of vascular plants and 400 known species of birds. Notable birds include the Guiana cock-of-the-rock (the national emblem), harpy eagle, tinamou, curassow, hummingbirds and numerous species of parrots (including scarlet, red-and-green and blue-and-yellow macaws). There are eight species of monkey (including the critically endangered black-bearded saki), as well as other threatened mammals such as giant river otter, giant armadillo and lowland tapir.
Conservation Status and Prospects. According to IUCN’s Conservation Outlook Assessment (2020) the conservation status of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve is ‘good, with some concerns’. The IUCN report notes that the reserve’s vast size, its inaccessibility and the absence of human settlement has ensured that it remains in a pristine wilderness condition. The report notes, however, that there is little on-the-ground management capacity to address any possible threats and logging in adjacent areas (especially in the north, where a new logging road has been built in the Matawai area) is intensifying, while artisanal gold mining is underway in other areas around the reserve.
Links:
Google Earth
Official UNESCO Site Details
IUCN Conservation Outlook
UNEP-WCMC Site Description
Birdlife IBA
Slideshow description
The slideshow ‘tells the story’ of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve with a portfolio of photos that illustrate its landscape features and some of the typical plants and animals. It starts with an aerial view of one of the prominent granite outcrops (the ‘Devils Egg’) and then shows some typical scenery along the boulder-strewn upper reaches of the rivers that are navigated by boat for access to the interior of the reserve. Some iconic wildlife species are shown, including giant river otter, jaguar, harpy eagle, golden-faced saki and squirrel monkeys. The slideshow continues with a series of photos from the Voltzberg Dome, with its sheer sides and bare rock faces supporting a unique flora of cactus, succulent and bromeliad species. The views from the top of the Votzberg Dome (210m) show vast swathes of unbroken lowland rainforest in all directions and a perspective of the forest canopy from above. The rest of the photos illustrate the extraordinary diversity of animal life, including a variety of frogs and insects, as well as a selection of the larger birds and mammals. The bright orange, lek-breeding, Guiana cock-of-the-rock is featured, followed by Amazon river dolphin, red howler monkey, lowland tapir, black-bearded saki monkey, red-and-green macaw, caiman, white-throated toucan and a wealth of other species.
The following Flickr photographers and other sources are acknowledged with thanks for their contributions to this slideshow: Zweer-de-Bruin, Cataloging-Nature, Curiosity-Thrills, Hicham-Daoudi, KD-Dijkstra, Art-Photos, David-Evers, Willo-van-der-Eijk, Panning-Out, Willem-Jan-van-der-Ven, John-C-Mittermeier, IUCNWeb, Igor-Itapary and Theresa-Salmon-Dillworth.
Factfile
Website Category:
Tropical & Sub-tropical Forests
Area: 16,000 km2
Inscribed: 2000
UNESCO Criteria:
- Ecological processes (ix);
- Natural habitat for biodiversity (x);
- Significant number of rare, endemic and/or endangered species (x)
