PEPERPOT
NATURE PARK

Arrowhead Piculet

Blood-coloured Woodpecker

Spotted Puffbird

White-tailed Trogon

Hook-billed Kite

Grey hawk

1) Sustainable Development

Peperpot has been marked for sustainable ecotourism under the strategic visionary Marienburg Development Project Plan.

2) Location! Location! Location!

Peperpot Nature Park is located only 5 km away from the center of the capital city of Paramaribo, making it an ideal place to relax and reconnect in nature for both the local and international tourist.

3) Cultural Heritage and Nature

Plantation Peperpot is an inheritance of the Dutch colonial period. Coffee and cacao were produced here. The plantation has been without any production for many decades. Due to this abandonment a sound and beautiful secondary tropical forest has grown, presenting a high diversity of flora and fauna, especially the bird population.

At the historical village of Peperpot many of the old plantation homes as well as worker barracks ("kampong") are still present in relatively good state. A guided walk through the historic coffee and cacao factory is an enriching experience.

So, the nature forms an inseparable part of the rich cultural history of Peperpot!

4) Birdwatching

Peperpot is very popular among international bird watchers and a few Surinamese birders. All bird endemics of Suriname can be found here, such as Arrowhead Piculet and Blood Coloured Woodpecker. Furthermore a lot of special birds can be seen such as Spotted Puffbird, White-tailed Trogon, Green-tailed Jacamar, Hook-billed kite and two hawk eagles: the latter are there because there is a large population of squirrel monkeys.

5) Nature Tourism

Peperpot is a perfect place for walking, biking, relaxing and jogging....in nature. The nature park is open for the general public from 8:30 - 5:00 pm, Tuesday through Sunday.

For the avid nature enthusiast or the walkers / joggers who wish to visit more frequently specialized "Friendship Passes" have been designed which allow "Friens of Peperpot Nature Park" to pay a very reasonable yearly fee, in order to allow for special previliges including coming to the park from 6:00 am - 6:30 pm.

6) Nature Education

Much to our delight the schools have enthusiastically discovered and embraced Peperpot Nature Park as a place to explore, discover and learn about the environment, history and unique cultural of Peperpot. Students and teachers ranging all the way from kindergarden up to primary, middle, highschool as well as University level students. Students from the NATIN as well as teachers' institute (IOL) have also visited Peperpot Nature Park.

On our part we are working hard to realize our dream of establishing a "Nature Education and Research Center" at Peperpot Nature Park which will offer a much more profound educational experience for young and old. Step one has been realized by producing a project plan for this worthwhile project. While waiting on the "BIG" project to become a reality, we've been taking important steps toward deepening the educational experience of students at the nature park. A pilot project was designed for a local middle school ("VOJ school) where students were introduced to the concept of "biodiversity" by actually investigating & measuring the level of biodiversity in their school environment as compared to the level of biodiversity at Peperpot Nature Park.

7) Cruiseship tourism

Even in its early days prior to the nature park being formally being structured under the wings of the Peperpot Nature Park foundation, Peperpot was already a popular attraction for cruiseship tourism with special focus on birdwatching cruiseships. In partnership with METS Travel & Tours (METS=Movement for Ecotourism in Suriname) many cruiseship tourists were welcomed and continue to be welcomed at the old historic plantations of Peperpot as well as Marienburg.

Clipper Adventure, 2004, 2006	Minerva II, 2006, 2007	Ms. Pearl, 2011
Field Manager, Lucien Felter, (currently tourist supervisor) and Mr. Victor Emanuel from the USA, President of Emanuel Tours and owner of the Clipper Adventure cruiseship

8) Peperpot Nature Corridor

Last but certainly not least, what makes Peperpot so unique is the 700 ha protected natural forest, named the Peperpot Nature Corridor.

The Peperpot Nature Corridor represents the "Lungs of Peperpot."
It enables both the plant as well as animal species to co-exist with its humanly neighbors in a balanced way. In the 700 ha nature forest, the necessary migration of the animals is preserved.

The Peperpot Nature Corridor and Peperpot Nature Park have respectively been categorized under the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories I and II.

The realization of the "Nature Corridor" has the long-term effect of enabling ecotourism to continue to develop in a sustainable manner at Peperpot as well as the surrounding District of Commewijne, while resulting in economic benefits and job creation for the Surinamese community. As such, the “Peperpot Nature Corridor” gives practical meaning to the policies of that Suriname has put forth of "greening the economy."

The realization of the Peperpot Nature Corridor was made possible through the creative cooperation between the following organizations:

	The Surinaamse Cultuurmaatschappij N.V. (Mariënburg), who is the initiator of the strategic Mariënburg Development Plan for Peperpot & Mariënburg.
	WWF Guianas who is a grantor of several projects put forth by Stg. Peperpot Nature Park and Stg. Peperpot Nature Forest.
	Stg. Tresor from the University of Utrecht, which owns and manages a comparable (but larger) protected nature reserve in French Guyana. A new budding win-win relationship is coming into being between Peperpot and Tresor, where a first collaborative research project will be jointly carried on behalf of assessing the biodiversity of the “Peperpot Nature Corridor.”
	Stg. Peperpot Nature Park is a collaborative partner of Stg. Peperpot Nature Forest, and as such is committed to actively participate and assist in realization of all the worthy goals of the Peperpot Nature Corridor!

HELP US TO PRESERVE A BEAUTIFUL NATURAL LANDMARK
OF SURINAME LOCATED IN THE DISTRICT OF COMMEWIJNE
AT ONLY 10 MINUTES AWAY FROM THE CAPITAL CITY OF PARAMARIBO...

BY VISITING PEPERPOT NATURE PARK!