The United States is collaborating with Suriname to deal with the impact of climate change as the Dutch-speaking Caribbean country has been designated among the top ten most vulnerable countries facing rising sea levels due to global warming.
A team of experts from SERVIR-Amazonia, a joint program of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has ended a series of meetings and discussions in Suriname as part of the initiative to mitigate the impact of the climate crisis.
“Climate change can impact everyone, especially people in the Caribbean whose geography leaves them vulnerable to sea-level change,” said the acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, Aaron Jensen.
“As a neighbor, partner, and friend of Suriname, we are working together to prepare the region for future climate challenges that may arise,” he said.
The two-year SERVIR-Amazonia activity aims to strengthen capacities and facilitate technical engagement with government, universities, research institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Caribbean. It is focused on two primary areas, namely forecasting and monitoring of hydro-meteorological events and monitoring and evaluation of land use and land cover changes in mangrove environments.
While in Suriname, the SERVIR-Amazonia team met with local experts from the Hydraulic Research Laboratory and the Meteorological Service, the National Coordination Center for Disaster Relief; the National Institute for Environment and Development (NIMOS), and the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control.
In 2019, the United States provided 16 automatic weather stations to Suriname as part of USAID’s three-year Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP), which improved Suriname’s data collection abilities and increased the country’s capacity to anticipate and manage the impact of changing weather patterns.
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 a two-year period and will also include Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Kitts, and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, Barbados, The Bahamas, Trinidad, and Tobago, and Jamaica.
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