Suriname's battle to keep sea at bay
For years, endangered leatherbacks and green turtles have emerged onto Braamspunt beach to lay their eggs.
But the land spit at the tip of the Suriname river estuary is rapidly vanishing as erosion, caused by rising sea levels linked to climate change, gobbles up entire swathes of Paramaribo's coastline.
"Maybe we'll get one more season out of this," Kiran Soekhoe Balrampersad, a guide who accompanied a group of tourists on a recent expedition to see the nesting turtles, told AFP.
"But after that there'll no longer be a beach," he added dolefully.
Suriname, South America's smallest country, is one of the most vulnerable in the world to rising sea levels.
Nearly seven out of ten people in the former Dutch colony of 600,000 inhabitants live in low-lying coastal areas, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
AFP | Juan BARRETO
"Every day I see a piece of my land disappear," said Gandat Sheinderpesad, a 56-year-old farmer who has lost 95 percent of his smallholding to the sea.
Local authorities have for years been trying to find a way to hold back the tide.
"Some areas are not problematic because we have 5, 10, even 20 kilometres of mangrove" acting as a buffer between the waves and the shore, Minister of Public Works Riad Nurmohamed told AFP.
But near Paramaribo, "there is just one kilometre so it's a very vulnerable zone," he added.
In 2020, a program to restore the capital's mangroves was launched.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sought to add VIP power to the initiative in 2022 by wading into the mud to personally plant seedlings.
But five years later, Sienwnath Naqal, the climate change and water management expert who led the project, surveys a scene of desolation.
The sea is now lapping at the edge of a road and the wooden stakes to which he had attached hundreds of samplings are largely bare.
AFP | Juan BARRETO
High seas carried away the substrate sediment, leaving the roots exposed.
"Over the last two to three years the water forcefully penetrated the mangroves, which were destroyed," Nurmohamed said.
The dredging of sand at the entrance to Paramaribo estuary to facilitate the passage of boats headed upriver to the port also contributed to the erosion, said Naqal.
But like the Amazon rainforest in neighbouring Brazil, the destruction was also deliberate in places, with farmers uprooting mangroves to make way for crops.
- 'No time to waste' -
With the water lapping at the feet of Paramaribo's 240,000 people, Suriname has changed tack and set about building a dyke.
For Sheinderpesad, the levee represents his last chance of remaining on his land.
"I have nowhere else to go. When we have the dyke, I will be safer, although I'm not sure for how long," he said.
The 4.5 kilometre-long barrier will cost $11-million, which the government has vowed to fund from state coffers.
AFP | Juan BARRETO
"If you go see donors it takes years before you can start to built. We have no time to waste, we'll be flooded," Nurmohamed explained.
But plugging one hole in the country's maritime defenses will not suffice to keep the mighty Atlantic at bay.
The government wants to build up the entire network of dykes that dot the country's 380-kilometer coastline.
It's just not sure where to find the money.
"It's a colossal investment," Nurmohamed said.
The country's newly discovered offshore oil deposits may provide the answer.
Last year, French group TotalEnergies announced a $10.5 billion project to exploit an oil field off Suriname's coast with an estimated capacity of producing 220,000 barrels per day.
by Anne-sophie Thill
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
9 hours ago
- eNCA
Suriname's battle to keep sea at bay
PARAMARIBO - In the dead of night on a beach in Suriname's capital Paramaribo, a group of just-hatched baby sea turtles clamber out of their sandy nesting hole and race, flippers flailing, towards the sea. For years, endangered leatherbacks and green turtles have emerged onto Braamspunt beach to lay their eggs. But the land spit at the tip of the Suriname river estuary is rapidly vanishing as erosion, caused by rising sea levels linked to climate change, gobbles up entire swathes of Paramaribo's coastline. "Maybe we'll get one more season out of this," Kiran Soekhoe Balrampersad, a guide who accompanied a group of tourists on a recent expedition to see the nesting turtles, told AFP. "But after that there'll no longer be a beach," he added dolefully. Suriname, South America's smallest country, is one of the most vulnerable in the world to rising sea levels. Nearly seven out of ten people in the former Dutch colony of 600,000 inhabitants live in low-lying coastal areas, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. AFP | Juan BARRETO "Every day I see a piece of my land disappear," said Gandat Sheinderpesad, a 56-year-old farmer who has lost 95 percent of his smallholding to the sea. Local authorities have for years been trying to find a way to hold back the tide. "Some areas are not problematic because we have 5, 10, even 20 kilometres of mangrove" acting as a buffer between the waves and the shore, Minister of Public Works Riad Nurmohamed told AFP. But near Paramaribo, "there is just one kilometre so it's a very vulnerable zone," he added. In 2020, a program to restore the capital's mangroves was launched. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sought to add VIP power to the initiative in 2022 by wading into the mud to personally plant seedlings. But five years later, Sienwnath Naqal, the climate change and water management expert who led the project, surveys a scene of desolation. The sea is now lapping at the edge of a road and the wooden stakes to which he had attached hundreds of samplings are largely bare. AFP | Juan BARRETO High seas carried away the substrate sediment, leaving the roots exposed. "Over the last two to three years the water forcefully penetrated the mangroves, which were destroyed," Nurmohamed said. The dredging of sand at the entrance to Paramaribo estuary to facilitate the passage of boats headed upriver to the port also contributed to the erosion, said Naqal. But like the Amazon rainforest in neighbouring Brazil, the destruction was also deliberate in places, with farmers uprooting mangroves to make way for crops. - 'No time to waste' - With the water lapping at the feet of Paramaribo's 240,000 people, Suriname has changed tack and set about building a dyke. For Sheinderpesad, the levee represents his last chance of remaining on his land. "I have nowhere else to go. When we have the dyke, I will be safer, although I'm not sure for how long," he said. The 4.5 kilometre-long barrier will cost $11-million, which the government has vowed to fund from state coffers. AFP | Juan BARRETO "If you go see donors it takes years before you can start to built. We have no time to waste, we'll be flooded," Nurmohamed explained. But plugging one hole in the country's maritime defenses will not suffice to keep the mighty Atlantic at bay. The government wants to build up the entire network of dykes that dot the country's 380-kilometer coastline. It's just not sure where to find the money. "It's a colossal investment," Nurmohamed said. The country's newly discovered offshore oil deposits may provide the answer. Last year, French group TotalEnergies announced a $10.5 billion project to exploit an oil field off Suriname's coast with an estimated capacity of producing 220,000 barrels per day. by Anne-sophie Thill
eNCA
23-06-2025
- eNCA
Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro dies aged nearly 99
Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, renowned for his huge bronze spheres, died at the weekend, a day before his 99th birthday, his foundation said on Monday. Born in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna on June 23, 1926, Pomodoro began investigating solid geometric forms in the early 1960s. He created monumental spheres, cones, columns and cubes in polished bronze, whose perfectly smooth exteriors split open to reveal interiors that were corroded, torn or simply hollowed out. This "contrast between the smooth perfection of the geometric form and the chaotic complexity of the interior" became his trademark, the Milan-based foundation said on its website. Prime Minister Georgia Meloni said on X that Pomodoro, who died at his home in Milan on Sunday, had "sculpted Italy's soul". "The art world has lost one of its most influential, insightful and visionary voices," added foundation director Carlotta Montebello. AFP | MAXIMILIEN LAMY Pomodoro was one of Italy's most prominent contemporary artists. He won numerous awards and taught at Stanford University, Berkley and Mills College in the United States. His iconic works grace public spaces the world over -– at the Vatican in Rome, the United Nations and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the Universal Exhibition in Shanghai and Trinity College Dublin.
eNCA
22-06-2025
- eNCA
Chad hopes 'green charcoal' can save vanishing forests
N'DJAMENA - As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. But the charcoal they were making is known as "green", and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. "Green charcoal" aims to protect what forest is left. Made from discarded plant waste such as millet and sesame stalks or palm fronds, it is meant to save trees from being chopped down for cooking. The product "releases less emissions than traditional charcoal, it doesn't blacken your pots, it has high energy content and lasts up to three times longer than ordinary charcoal," said Ousmane Alhadj Oumarou, technical director of the Raikina Association for Socioeconomic Development (Adser). "Using one kilogram of green charcoal saves six kilograms of wood." The group has installed a production facility in Pont Belile, just north of the capital, N'Djamena. There, workers grind up burnt plant waste, then mix it with gum arabic, which helps it ignite, and clay, which makes it burn more slowly. The resulting black nuggets look like ordinary charcoal. Like the traditional kind, it emits CO2 when it burns -- but less, said Souleymane Adam Adey, an ecologist at the University of N'Djamena. And "it contributes to fighting deforestation, by ensuring the trees that aren't cut down continue to capture and store carbon," he said. - Refugee pressure - The conflict in neighbouring Sudan, which is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, is adding to pressure on Chad, which has become home to more than 800,000 Sudanese refugees since 2023 -- double the 400,000 it already hosted. AFP | Joris Bolomey "Desertification has progressed in the regions that have been hosting Sudanese refugees for the past two years," said Adser's director, 45-year-old businessman Ismael Hamid. Adser invested 200 million CFA francs (about $350,000) to launch the project, then won backing from the World Bank, which buys the charcoal for 750 CFA francs per kilogramme. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, distributes the charcoal in refugee camps in eastern Chad. But Hamid said he hoped to expand production and slash prices to 350 to 500 CFA francs per kilo to make "green charcoal" available and affordable nationwide. AFP | Joris Bolomey The plant currently produces seven to nine tonnes per day. "If we want to meet the country's needs, we have to increase our output by at least a factor of 10," said Hamid, calling for subsidies to support the budding sector. Environment Minister Hassan Bakhit Djamous told AFP the government was working on a policy to promote such projects. "We need to bet on green charcoal as an energy source for the future of our country," he said.
