High level exchanges between Suriname and France on the Maroni

Mr Alexandre and Mr Santokhi (Photo credit: CTG)
The BIO-PLATEAUX project is co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg Amazon Cooperation Program. It aims at developing the sharing of data, information and experiences on water and biodiversity in aquatic environments between French Guiana, Brazil and Suriname, particularly in the two transboundary basins of the Oiapoque and Maroni rivers.
Mr Alexandre and Mr Santokhi (Photo credit: CTG)
Following the issues prioritized by the stakeholders during the Conference and the first WGs in November 2019, technical counterparts from the three territories (Brazil, French Guiana and Suriname) were invited to the Transboundary Technical Working Groups n°2 on the Maroni and Oyapock basins on 20, 21, and 22 July 2020 .
Tuesday 8 September 2020, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. the second Steering Committee (COPIL) of the BIO-PLATEAUX project took place, through video-conference. The International Office for Water (IOWater), the French Guiana Water Office (OEG), The Anton de Kom University (AdeKUS) and the Amapa Agency supported this event.
In the specific historic and geographic context of French Guiana, which has significant mineral resources in an exceptional ecosystem, gold mining is a central environmental and development issue.
It often generates tensions in the territory, especially between the intensification (of both legal and illegal) gold mining and environment and biodiversity protection public policies.
Objectives of the Steering Committee: