Saamaka community collaborates with Pontifícia Universidad Javariana in securing land tenure rights

As part of Inclusive Landscape Governance in the working landscape program, Tropenbos Suriname will cooperate with Pontificia Universidad Javariana (PUJ) Bogotá and the Association of Saamaka Authorities (VSG) to provide the Saamaka community with tools for governing their territory.
From November 16-18th Tropenbos Suriname together with the VSG organized a strategic meeting on landscape governance.

In an interview with Pablo Ramos from PUJ last November he stated that during the strategic meeting on landscape governance he noticed an eagerness for learning new experiences amongst the Saamaka community. He was impressed by the jurisdictional system of the community and acknowledges that every country has to find a balance between history, traditions, tribes and ways of living. ‘To increase success in a very long procedure for protection of man and biodiversity, their statement has to be well formulated. There also needs to be an open dialogue between youth and leaders and a collective focus on realising long term goals for the entire community ’

From March 30th to April 1st the journey of knowledge exchange will continue through a workshop where participants from the Saamaka territory will be handed tools on territorial governance. This activity is important to clarify their perception of their territory and to understand the importance of spatial information in comparison to the structure of community governance.

The workshopsessions will be provided by Pablo Dos Ramos and his colleagues Daniela Ortegón and Carolina Arévalo, all three from the Pontificia Universidad Javariana – Observatory of Territory and Peasants.