BIO-PLATEAUX: a new step for transboundary cooperation on the Maroni River

Published on 11/12/25

As part of the BIO-PLATEAUX project, the second COTTICA platform was held in Maripasoula on 6 and 7 November 2025. This forum for Franco-Surinamese dialogue on water management in the Maroni River brought together elected officials, institutions, scientists and representatives of local communities to strengthen transboundary cooperation and develop joint messages in preparation for COP30.

The second edition of the COTTICA platform was held at Maripasoula Town Hall, bringing together French and Surinamese stakeholders around a common goal: to strengthen cross-border cooperation for the sustainable management of water resources in the Maroni basin, as part of the BIO-PLATEAUX project, supported by the European Union and led by the International Office for Water (OiEau).

For several years, this initiative has been supporting cooperation between French Guiana, Suriname and Brazil for better knowledge and shared management of the transboundary waters of the Guiana Plateau.

A Franco-Surinamese dialogue for the Maroni

This meeting follows on from the first platform organised in Grand-Santi and Stoelmanseiland in March 2025, following the Franco-Surinamese Administrative Agreement signed in Paramaribo in November 2024.

The COTTICA platform in Maripasoula brought together around sixty institutional and community stakeholders: representatives of the Territorial Collectivity of French Guiana, the Water and Biodiversity Committee (CEB), the French Guiana Amazonian Park (PAG), the Community of Communes of Western French Guiana (CCOG), as well as Surinamese ministries and Wayana and Aluku traditional authorities.

Among the personalities present were Ms Barbara Pompili, French Ambassador for the Environment, Mr Anelli, Mayor of Maripasoula, Ms Asadang, Permanent Secretary of the Surinamese Ministry of Natural Resources, and Mr Eric Tardieu, Director General of OiEau.

A platform for exchange and concrete action

Discussions focused on the main challenges facing the Maroni basin:

water quality and pressures related to illegal gold mining;
waste management in the Upper Maroni;
the effects of climate change (droughts, floods, supply to isolated areas);
and access to drinking water for riverside communities.

Field visits enabled the delegations to see the local realities for themselves, particularly in the Wayana villages of Taluwen and Kayodé, and to talk directly with the inhabitants. The technical visit to the Maroni River, organised on 7 November, enabled participants to observe first-hand the pressures on the ecosystem (gold mining, waste, bank erosion) and the local conservation initiatives led by municipalities and riverside communities. This mission also highlighted the inseparable links between the health of populations, the quality of the river and the transmission of traditional knowledge.

Joint messages delivered at COP30 in Belém

COP30, which took place in Belém (Brazil) in November 2025, was an opportunity to convey the messages of the COTTICA platform, recognising the Maroni as a world natural and cultural heritage site whose ecological richness and human diversity must be preserved, and the urgent need to act in the face of growing pressures on the river (gold mining, pollution, waste accumulation) that threaten both the health of the inhabitants and biodiversity. In the face of the effects of climate change, scientific research, shared monitoring of water quality, the implementation of local adaptation solutions and sustainable and inclusive cross-border governance are essential to make the Maroni a pilot territory for resilience.

A BIO-PLATEAUX event was held on Monday 10 November at the French Pavilion.

We are peoples who have traditionally lived in close interaction with nature, the forest, the waters, the rivers and the creeks that surround us, allow us to breathe, and provide us with water, fish and game. But for years now, we have realised that this relationship has deteriorated significantly, or has become less meaningful. With sedentarisation, insecurity and pollution, there has been a kind of disconnection: in the 1980s and 1990s, almost every family had its own canoe and motor; today, if 5%, or even 1%, of the adult population still has one, that is already a lot.

Gold mining has profoundly disrupted the environment: we used to have crystal-clear water, and overnight we found ourselves swimming in a pool of mud. Added to this is a serious waste management problem: dumped directly into the river or left on the banks, we know that sooner or later it will end up in the Maroni.

And beyond what is visible, there is the invisible: we are beginning to see scientifically proven consequences, with damage and pathologies linked to heavy metals in both very young people and adults. As a result, more and more people are limiting their interaction with the environment or leaving their villages for Maripasoula or even the coast.

Some of us are aware of this, others less so. With our silent extinction, France, Suriname and Brazil are essentially witnessing an environmental and human tragedy. It is imperative that we, as inhabitants, quickly learn to behave differently and that our governments immediately take responsibility. Life is still possible.

M. Samanian Djo

Resident of Maripasoula