During the week of March 28, experts form SERVIR-Amazonia, a joint program of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were in Suriname for a series of meetings and discussions as nations work together to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
The two-year SERVIR-Amazonia activity aims to strengthen capacities and facilitate technical engagement with government, universities, research institutions, and NGOs in the Caribbean. It is focused on two main areas: Forecasting and monitoring of hydro-meteorological events and monitoring and evaluation of land use and land cover changes in mangrove environments.
“Climate change can impact everyone, especially people in the Caribbean whose geography leaves them vulnerable to sea level change,” said U.S. Embassy Paramaribo acting Deputy Chief of Mission Aaron Jensen. “And as a neighbor, partner, and friend of Suriname, we are working together to prepare the region for future climate challenges that may arise.”
The SERVIR-Amazonia program is a part of SERVIR Global, a joint initiative of USAID and NASA. Since 2005, SERVIR Global has worked in partnership with countries to use information provided by Earth-observing satellites and geospatial technologies. Since 2019, the SERVIR-Amazonia Hub has been working with regional partners to understand needs and translate those into development of tools, products, and services to allow countries in the Amazon basin to improve environmental decision-making.
While in Suriname, the SERVIR-Amazonia team met with local experts form the Hydraulic Research Laboratory and the Meteorological Service both at the Ministry of Public Works; the National Coordination Center for Disaster Relief at the Ministry of Defense; the National Institute for Environment and Development (NIMOS); the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control, part of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Land and Forestry; and researchers and experts at the Amazon Conservation Team Suriname and Mangrove Forum Suriname.
SERVIR-Amazonia will facilitate technical and research exchanges, provide training in geospatial services and applications, and share SERVIR-Amazonia’s unique strategic approach for the co-development and delivery of geospatial services and products. The activity spans over a 2-year period and initially covers Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and Jamaica.
The SERVIR-Amazonia program is the latest joint effort by the U.S. and Suriname to strengthen the regions resilience in the face of climate change. In 2019, the U.S. provided 16 automatic weather stations to Suriname as part of USAID’s three-year Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP), which allowed improved Suriname’s data collection abilities and increase the country’s capacity to anticipate and manage the impact of changing weather patterns.
More information on the SERVIR-Amazonia program can be found online here: https://servir.ciat.cgiar.org/
