Eli Prins, Mark van Benthem, oktober 2025
Bigi Poika becomes Suriname’s first FSC-certified community: “A milestone for the community, for Suriname, and beyond.”
On 14 October 2025, the Surinamese community of Bigi Poika received its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificate from the President of Suriname, Jennifer Simons. With this achievement, Bigi Poika becomes the first community in Suriname to obtain this international recognition for sustainable forest management. This milestone not only marks significant progress for forest management in Bigi Poika, but also demonstrates the potential for other communities — in Suriname and abroad — to sustainably manage and protect their own forests. It opens new opportunities for accessing highquality international timber markets that increasingly value sustainability, transparency, and traceability.
