For several years, Mongabay has maintained a watchdog and investigative focus on Mennonite expansion and related deforestation in Suriname, documenting the potential risks to the country’s vast Amazon rainforest and tracking the government’s response.
In 2023, Mongabay revealed plans for a pilot program that would have allocated 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of mostly rainforest to Mennonite farming families, amid broader government plans to make hundreds of thousands of hectares available for agricultural development. The reporting contributed to public and political scrutiny, and in March 2024, the government canceled the controversial Mennonite pilot program.
Mongabay continued reporting as new land deals and settlement plans emerged. In early 2026, the organization reported on another controversial land deal involving plans to develop rainforest for agriculture. In April of the same year, another article revealed Mennonites from Belize were negotiating a multimillion-dollar purchase of around 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres) of rainforest in Suriname.
Impact
Mongabay’s sustained coverage has informed policy discussions around Mennonite settlement, agricultural expansion and rainforest protection in Suriname.
In August 2026, President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons announced that the government had created a task force to investigate and evict people illegally occupying and clearing rainforest, including Mennonite settlers. During the announcement, the president specifically referenced the government’s previous decision to transfer hundreds of thousands of hectares to its agriculture ministry, a move that Mongabay had first reported in its 2023 investigation, breaking the news of the planned land transfer. The president said she had instructed officials to reverse that decision for forested areas.
The government has since begun issuing eviction notices to some settlers, although the process remains ongoing and complicated by questions over land agreements, immigration status and which settlements are authorized. Mongabay’s October 2026 follow-up found uncertainty mounting around the government’s eviction efforts, with some settlers continuing to develop the area despite eviction orders.
Mongabay’s reporting also illuminates the broader regional context. In July 2026, Mongabay published an investigation into how Mennonite communities acquire and consolidate land in Belize, documenting the financial and corporate structures that have enabled rapid expansion and deforestation there. The investigation also highlighted how Mennonite communities are looking beyond Belize for new land, including in Suriname and elsewhere in Latin America.
Matt Finer, Amazon Conservation Director of the Mapping the Andes Amazon Project (MAAP), told Mongabay that its reporting on Mennonite-driven deforestation in Suriname helped shape a new project with conservation organization Re:wild, building on work already underway to address the issue.
Specifically, the reporting helped identify areas under threat where conservation efforts could be focused. The initiative aims to prevent Mennonite-driven deforestation from taking hold in other tropical regions, applying lessons from the impacts of Mennonite settlement and deforestation elsewhere.
The developments demonstrate the value of continued investigative coverage. Mongabay’s reporting did not end with the cancellation of one controversial land deal. By monitoring the issue in Suriname, while investigating the broader regional expansion of Mennonite agriculture, Mongabay has kept the potential consequences for forests on the policy and conservation agenda.
What began as an investigation into a proposed land deal has grown into years of reporting on agricultural expansion, new land deals and illegal settlements, helping shape policy responses in Suriname and influence conservation efforts across the region.
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Banner image: A drone photo of a Mennonite settlement in Suriname. Image courtesy of Erlan Sleur/ ProBios.