Central Suriname Nature Reserve

The Central Suriname Nature Reserve is by far the largest protected area of Suriname and one of the most important protected areas (rain forest ) in South America. Since 2000, the reserve is on the list of World Natural Heritage by UNESCO.

The Central Suriname Nature Reserve was created by the merger of Raleighvallen nature reserve in the north of the new area ( established in 1961, 780 km ²), of the Table Mountain Nature Reserve in the center of 1998 ( established in 1966, 1490 km ² ) and the Eilert de Haan Mountains Nature Reserve ( founded in 1966, 2200 km ²). The reserve covers an area of ​​1.6 million ha or 16,000 km ², or about 10% of the entire territory of Suriname. This area corresponds to the base area of the states of Schleswig -Holstein or Thuringia. The reserve also protects one of the major river systems, the Coppename.

There is a great variety of flora and fauna in the area by a great diversity of ecosystems. You will find both low-lying rainforest and mountain ranges; with the highest elevation in Suriname, the Julianatop 1,230 meters. Specific points are still the Table Mountain ( 1,026 m), between the Emma chain and the eastern part of the Wilhelmi Stevenage foothills. It forms here a nearly triangular plateau with side lengths of about 10 km and a base of 8 km, the ( 1,026 m) drops to 500 m from the southeast to the northwest. The large variation in tree species ranges up to Krondächern between 30 and 50 meters in height and the lowlands consist mainly of palm trees. The floor of the rainforest is covered with fern and Farnmoos. The Raleighvallen area is characterized by geological formations with waterfalls and some granite island mountains ( eg the Voltzberg ), which are considerably above the forest.

In the nature reserve of animal populations occur which are typical of the Amazon Basin and some of which are globally threatened. These include, inter alia, the jaguar, the giant armadillo, giant otter, tapir, sloth, and a lot of monkeys and birds.