The establishment and management of the nature reserves of Wia Wia, Galibi, and Wane Kreek, which cover almost 50% of the ancestral territory of the Kaliña and Lokono Peoples, have resulted in breaches of several human rights of these communities. These include civil and political rights: the right to consultation and effective participation in decision-making processes, the right to recognition of juridical personality and the right to judicial protection; property rights: restricted access to livelihood (prohibition of hunting and fishing) and sacred sites, forced resettlement, granting individual titles to non-indigenous third parties and environmental damages with repercussions on the indigenous communities very survival and cultural identities.  

These actions were taken without recognition of the Kaliña and Lokono Peoples as collective legal entities, depriving them of the legal capacity to claim or defend their ancestral rights under domestic law.

The Wia Wia, the Galibi, and the Wane Kreek Nature Reserves were established in 1966, 1969, and 1986, respectively, without prior consultation with the Indigenous Peoples residing in the areas. 

Moreover, some of the preexisting agricultural plots and houses within the Wia Wia and Galibi reserves were relocated to enable their establishment. The State provided no compensation for the relocation, nor did it offer alternative lands of equal quality or cultural importance.

Restrictions on subsistence activities, including hunting and fishing, have been in force since the establishment of the nature reserves pursuant to Article 5(c) of the 1954 Nature Protection Act. 

In 2005, the State of Suriname established a guard post, staffed by armed personnel, between the Galibi Nature Reserve and the two adjacent villages, to protect the reserve. Restrictions on access to the reserve were intensified, leading to tensions between the Indigenous Peoples and the guards. In 2006, one of the guards shot in the air in the direction of indigenous persons. This militarization of conservation enforcement generated fear among local residents and deepened mistrust between the communities and State authorities.

In 1958, a 75-year concession was granted by the State of Suriname to the mining company Suralco to extract bauxite from the bauxite deposits of Wane Hills, located within the territory of the Wane Kreek reserve. This concession predated the formal designation of the reserve but remained in effect after 1986, without reconciling mining operations with conservation objectives or Indigenous rights protections.

In 1975, the State initiated “Tuinstad Albina” (Garden City Albina), an urban subdivision project along the Marowijne River, near the villages of Erowarte, Marijkedorp, Pierrekondre, and Tapuku. The project entailed the parcellation of the area for the granting of private titles to non-Indigenous third parties and included the construction of vacation homes, a casino, a shopping mall, and a petrol station. It resulted in the forced resettlement of the indigenous residents from the area and restricted their access to the Marowijne River, which holds a significant spiritual value for Kaliña and Lokono peoples and constitutes a fundamental element of their cultural identity.

The project also reduced access to traditional fishing sites and ceremonial spaces along the river, further disrupting Indigenous cultural practices and livelihoods

During the Surinamese internal conflict between the Jungle Commando, led by Maroon groups, and the Surinamese National Army (1986-1992), which was primarily fought in the Lower Marowijne territory, the State restricted access to the Galibi Nature Reserve due to an increase in theft of turtle eggs. As a result, the indigenous communities of Christiaankondre and Langamankondre were prevented from collecting and consuming turtle eggs, a traditional subsistence activity. Moreover, the conflict forced around 1,000 indigenous persons to flee across the border to French Guiana, where they lived in precarious conditions. Most of them returned to their villages after the end of the conflict in 1992, but many faced the destruction of homes and loss of subsistence resources.

In the mid-1990s, preparatory operations for the construction of a highway to transport bauxite from Wane Kreek and to access the mining site led to an increase in legal and illegal logging in the area and other extractive activities such as poaching, mining of sand, gravel, and kaolin. These activities caused deforestation, soil erosion, and the contamination of waterways, further degrading the ecosystems within the reserve and threatening the food security of the Kaliña and Lokono communities.

In 1997, Suralco initiated its extractive operations without prior environmental assessment and without consulting the resident indigenous communities. These activities were authorized by the State despite the absence of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and in disregard of the communities’ repeated petitions to participate in decision-making regarding the use of their lands.

In 2003, BHP Billiton-Suralco took over Suralco’s mining operations and, with the intention of continuing the mining activities in section Wane 4, hired an external consultant who made the first environmental impact assessment (Environmental Sensitivity Analysis of the Wane 4 Concession) in the reserve. The assessment documented the environmental damages caused by the mining operations; dynamite explosions, strip-mining, and consequential contamination of lands and waters caused the wildlife to flee and severely impacted fishing and hunting, traditional subsistence activities of the local indigenous communities. The study also confirmed the destruction of vegetation, loss of biodiversity, and siltation of rivers and creeks traditionally used by the communities for fishing and transportation.

In 2009, mining activities in Wane Kreek ceased, and although the mining companies reforested the areas exploited, the territory remains significantly altered. No effective remediation or compensation process was implemented, and the communities were neither consulted nor involved in post-mining rehabilitation planning.   In 2018, an external review of the rehabilitation process concluded that the actions taken were insufficient.

The environmental degradation continues to affect soil fertility, water quality, and the availability of wildlife, undermining the Indigenous Peoples’ ability to sustain their livelihoods.

Sources:

1. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname, paras 76, 22
2. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname, paras 183, 50
3. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname, paras 88, 25
4. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname,  192, 41
5. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname,  23
6. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname,  para 39, 15
7. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname,  para 94, 27
8. https://www.forestpeoples.org/fileadmin/uploads/fpp/migration/publicati…
9. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname, para 92, 26 

10. IACrHR, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v Suriname, para 93