The project addresses local community participation from the villages of Witagron and Kaaimanston, Suriname, in the management and protection of the rainforest, biodiversity and other natural resources located at the upper Coppename river area in the 1998-designated 1.6 million hectare Central Suriname Nature Reserve (CSNR). The villages own concessions for community forestry, which are valuable to forestry companies, and mining operations. Faced with few economic options, villagers may be tempted to sell their concessions to large corporations which would likely result in clear-cutting and destruction of the forest. The project aims to provide an alternative method of income generation, through ecotourism, for the villagers while ensuring the conservation of the CSNR. In order to make this possible, villagers have to be trained and made aware of their possibilities and responsibilities towards their natural environment.

Project activities include establishment of visitor facilities (1 ecolodge; 3 ecocamps); provision of visitor transportation; community training and establishment of a community revolving fund to enable villagers to access credit for development projects.

The project compliments the first GEF (Full) Project (SUR/99/G31/A/1G/31) in Suriname entitled: "Conservation of Globally Significant Forest Ecosystems in Suriname's Guayana Shield". The GEF/FP Project Brief and the GEF/SGP MOA were both signed on April 8, 2000.