We have been working with IICA-Suriname, community and business leaders, local NGOs, and donors in Suriname since 2013, helping to facilitate a vision and path forward for the country’s indigenous groups. With few options available to them, the Arawak and Carib peoples—who live in the country’s vast and heavily forested interior—are determined to maintain their cultural traditions, protect local biodiversity and to create economic opportunities where few exist. Tourism provides the most promising path forward.
After a series of planning meetings where Sustainable Travel International helped these communities to identify a few viable opportunities, members of the Arawak and Carib tribes have developed guided village tours and are now building a community center that will highlight local, traditional culture.