Pubdate: Sun, 02 Sep 2001 Source: The Herald-Sun (NC) Copyright: 2001 The Herald-Sun Contact: http://www.herald-sun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428 Author: Ian James (AP) STRUGGLE FOR LAW IN SURINAME JUNGLES BROWNSBERG NATURE PARK, Suriname -- In the shade of the jungle, bright blue butterflies float between the trees, ferns and vines. Shafts of sunlight illuminate the park through the canopy, brightening a green world that reverberates with the cries of parrots and toucans. Then, suddenly, the rain forest gives way to a treeless wasteland -- piles of rust-colored earth and the water-filled craters of gold mining pits. The damage from illegal mining stands as an example of the rampant lawlessness that prevails throughout Suriname's vast and sparsely populated interior, which has come to be called its Wild West. Mining is only part of the problem. The scarlet ibis is disappearing in some areas where impoverished villagers hunt the bird for its meat. It's also difficult to guard against drug trafficking, illegal logging, poaching and other crimes because the jungle is so immense and largely inaccessible. "Suriname is a jewel, but it's endangered by modernity," said Dennis Hays, who served as U.S. ambassador here until last year. "I always encouraged the Surinamese to try to get a handle on the situation." Doing so has been difficult in this South American country of 63,000 square miles covered almost entirely by forests. Most of Suriname's 440,000 people are concentrated along the coast. Much of the interior can be reached only by canoe, and there is little money to police the area. Marlene Homoet, the chief police inspector for the interior, has only a small force -- for security reasons, she declines to say how small -- with no planes or helicopters. Despite some successes, the region is practically ungovernable, she said. "It's a hard job," Homoet said. "We don't have money. What we have is the guts, the endurance and the backing of the government." Suriname, a Dutch colony until 1975, has made great efforts to protect rain forests that are some of the most pristine in the world. In 1998, the government created the 4 million acre Central Suriname Nature Reserve, setting aside 10 percent of the country, or an area the size of New Jersey. But only two rangers are permanently assigned to protect it. "It's uninhabited because nobody's found gold there, but the day that someone goes in there and finds gold, there are going to be 10,000 miners in there within six months," Hays said. Just Essed, general manager of Brownsberg Nature Park, said the miners are persistent. "It's a pity that we tried to save a small piece of the jungle for educational reasons and it is attacked by people living around the area," he said. "We chased them away several times, but they always come back." The lawlessness is fed by poverty among descendants of escaped African slaves known as Maroons, who make up most of the interior's population. By many accounts, corruption also contributes to the problem. "If you get up, you don't have work, you don't have anything to eat, then you don't have any choice but to do crime," said Ronnie Brunswijk, who led a bush war from 1986-92 seeking greater rights for Maroons. He blames the lack of opportunity in part on the government's failure to fully implement accords that ended the war. A Dutch court in 1999 sentenced Brunswijk to eight years in prison for cocaine trafficking. He insists he is innocent and remains free in Suriname, where he says he earns his income from a soccer club he owns, along with legal mining and logging concessions. The U.N. Drug Control Program estimates 22 tons of cocaine is shipped through Suriname to Europe each year. Remote dirt roads serve as airstrips for small planes that arrive from Brazil and Venezuela to drop off Colombian drug shipments. Thousands of Brazilian miners, or "garimpeiros," also work throughout the interior, tearing up the forest and contaminating rivers with the mercury they use to separate gold from ore. They bring another dimension of lawlessness, using gold dust as currency and handguns as insurance. Long before Brownsberg Nature Park was established in 1969, Surinamese were panning for gold in the area. But the mining began to cause serious harm in 1998 when Brazilians arrived with diesel-powered pumps and other machinery, said Harrold A. Sijlbing, director of the Foundation for Nature Conservation in Suriname, which owns the 21,000-acre park 80 miles south of Paramaribo. Last year, Brazilian miners shot and killed one Surinamese miner and wounded another, said park ranger Elton Bellamy, who is supposed to protect the area with just two other rangers. Police have repeatedly arrested miners for working in the park, but they keep returning. The land scarred by mining is of no use to the park, and Sijlbing's foundation has proposed to give 2,500 acres of it back to the government in exchange for other untouched lands south of the park. "We want to give the problem to the government," he said. "We don't want it anymore." To guard against illegal logging, Suriname's Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control plans to begin using satellite images, expand its work force from 100 to 150 people and raise funds to build new field stations. Otherwise, "you can't really exercise control over such a big territory," said foundation chief Iwan Krolis. "We can only tell what is the truth when we are in the forest." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth