38 | Sector Focus: Tropical Timber
SUMMARY
■ Big Poika has achieved an FSC first in Suriname
■The project was funded by Cities4Forests and IDB
■It opens the door for sustainable timber from community forests
■The first timber has gone to Holland
AN FSC FIRST IN SURINAME
The forest community of Big Poika has become the first in Suriname to gain FSC certification, creating new opportunities to trade in sustainable forest products
In October, the Surinamese community of Bigi Poika received its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificate from the President of Suriname, Jennifer Simons, the first forest community in the country to do so. The achievement is described as a major breakthrough with international significance for certification internationally, says advisors and analysts Stichting Probos of the Netherlands which supported the certification process.
“This milestone not only marks significant progress for forest management in Bigi Poika but also demonstrates the potential for other communities — in Suriname and abroad — to sustainably manage and protect their own forests,” it says. “It opens new opportunities
for accessing high quality international timber markets that increasingly value sustainability, transparency, and traceability.” Obtaining the FSC certificate was the result of a multi-year process during which Bigi Poika developed its own strategy and management plan for community forest management, while ‘step by step investing in professionalization’ of community members. Under the guidance of Environmental Services & Support (ESS) of Suriname and Stichting Probos, the community completed the first phase of the FSC Continuous Improvement Procedure (FSC- CIP) — a stepwise certification pathway for communities. The project was funded by the international Cities4Forests initiative and
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Lab under its SUSTAME programme aimed at ‘catalysing a market-based approach to sustainable timber extraction and processing’. Over a number of years, the Bigi Poika forest team participated in a range of training programmes on sustainable forest management and FSC certification and in May certifier Control Union conducted the FSC forest management audit, with the official certification granted in September. “This achievement took five years of hard work, with a clear vision, direction, and perseverance from the traditional community leadership, working groups in the office, and the forest team in the field,” said Hans Paters, director ESS.
Above left: Big Poika Forest Above right: Suriname forest PHOTO ROB OO TTJ | November/December 2025 |
www.ttjonline.com
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