Officials in Suriname are attempting to reverse a controversial agribusiness contract that could lead to the clearing of more than 113,000 hectares (280,000 acres) of Amazon rainforest a move experts warn would jeopardize the country’s carbon-negative status and undermine its environmental commitments.
The land in question lies in the northwestern district of Nickerie and was earmarked in 2024 under a public-private partnership between Suriname’s Ministry of Agriculture and Suriname Green Energy Agriculture N.V., a company focused on sugarcane ethanol and bioenergy production.
Although the agreement was signed under the previous administration, critics say the legal framework remains active and clearing has begun in recent months allegedly without the necessary environmental permits.
If fully implemented, the project would convert 113,465 hectares of largely intact rainforest into industrial agricultural land. Experts warn that such large-scale deforestation could strip Suriname of its rare carbon-negative status a distinction held because its vast forest cover absorbs more carbon dioxide than the country emits.
“You can forget the carbon-negative status,” said John Goedschalk, a climate advisor to Suriname’s president. “That means we’ll also lose access to our carbon credits. We would no longer be carbon negative.”
Suriname is one of the most forested countries in the world, with approximately 93% of its land area covered by rainforest. Its intact forests are part of the Guiana Shield, a critical ecological region that plays a major role in regulating rainfall and freshwater systems across South America.
“This is not just a local issue. This is a regional issue because of the role rainforests play on the continent,” Goedschalk said. “Continued deforestation in the Guiana Shield endangers access to water for people all the way to Argentina.”
Government officials, according to internal emails reviewed by Mongabay, say Suriname Green Energy Agriculture began clearing forested land without first receiving permits from the National Environmental Authority (NMA).
The project area also overlaps almost entirely with logging concessions regulated under sustainability frameworks designed to protect primary forests. Critics argue that multiple government agencies were either bypassed or inadequately consulted.
Under Surinamese law, land-clearing projects are supposed to receive approval from the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB), which oversees sustainable forestry. However, SBB officials say they were not properly involved in the approval process.
One senior SBB official, speaking anonymously due to job security concerns, said the previous administration may have intentionally avoided agency review.
“They know it had to come through [the SBB] and that we would have rejected it, because we are against agriculture in primary forests,” the official said. “We have plenty of secondary forests. We have tertiary forests.”
The company has reportedly hired Mennonite workers to help develop the land, reviving fears among environmental groups that new farming communities could become permanent and expand deeper into forested areas. Similar expansions have occurred in other parts of Latin America, where Mennonite agricultural settlements have rapidly transformed forest landscapes.
Suriname Green Energy Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture did not respond to requests for comment.
The current dispute follows a series of land-use controversies under former President Chan Santokhi. In 2023, more than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) were transferred from the forestry agency to the agriculture ministry for potential agribusiness development.
Another initiative proposed allocating 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) to Mennonite families from Bolivia seeking to establish farming communities.
Those proposals sparked public backlash amid concerns that large-scale agriculture would threaten Suriname’s forests and environmental reputation. Though many of the initiatives stalled, critics say the legal groundwork for some projects was never formally reversed.
Santokhi left office in July 2025 and was succeeded by President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, a vocal critic of deforestation. However, observers note that her administration has yet to dismantle all land agreements signed under the previous government.
Her office did not respond to requests for comment.
“Nobody knows what is happening,” said Erlan Sleur, a biologist and president of the environmental NGO ProBios. “Even the people in the new government don’t know what is happening.”
Government officials are now exploring whether the project can be canceled on procedural grounds particularly if land clearing began before environmental approvals were granted.
“We might be able to cancel this contract just on that basis,” Goedschalk said.
Environmental groups argue that Suriname’s long-term prosperity depends on safeguarding its forests, especially as illegal gold mining already strains ecosystems and freshwater supplies.
“Large-scale agriculture should not become a second driver of deforestation,” said WWF-Guianas director David Singh in a previous statement on related land-use proposals.
As clearing continues, critics say the government faces a defining choice: protect one of the world’s most intact rainforest regions or risk trading environmental leadership for short-term economic gains.