Brownsberg
Visit on a day trip or longer, a ridge part of pristine Tropical Rain forest on a mountain top in Suriname with stunning view over the lake, not far inland.
Price p.p 1 day € 70.-
Price p.p 2 days € 150.-
Tour information
Brownsberg is characterized by its high accessibility to a vast wooded area that is usually found only in remote
and hard to reach places. The Brownsberg Nature Park is the only nature park in Suriname. It is situated in the
central north of Surinam, about 130 km south of Paramaribo, with an area of approximately 8000 ha. It includes more
than half of the Brownsberg Nature Reserve.
Brownsberg is the closest location from the city where you can find a primary rainforest with an abundance of native
flora and fauna species. For visitors, there are very cozy bungalows on the plateau that offer a spectacular overview on
the artificial landscaped Van Blommenstein Lake..
Attractions:
- an exciting climb by bus to the top of the mountain;
- comfortable lodgings;
- walks through the tropical rainforest;
- information about the Brownsberg Nature Reserve;
- hiking tours to, among others, the Witi creek, the Irene, Leo and Koemboe waterfalls
The Brownsberg Nature Park covers part of the Brownsberg area, an area dominated by a 500 m high lateritic plateau. The park is based on a long-term lease to the Foundation Of Nature Preservation, STINASU; it incorporates about half of the forested Brownsberg plateau, and scenic slopes and creek valleys extending as far as the Brokopondo lake - a vast hydropower reservoir - which lies to the East.
Human disturbance is not strange to the area: traces of pre-Columbian presence are evident, and
there is a two century long history of mineral and forest exploration and exploitation. Because of all
this, the plateau is now well accessible, and despite it, the plateau and slope ecosystems have not
suffered extensive damage. Nevertheless, a recent upsurge in gold mining activity near the
Brownsberg is causing problems, such as forest clearing, creek pollution and increased hunting.
Brownsberg is an excellent area for research, because it provides easy access to forested habitats,
and to plant and animal species which are otherwise difficult to get at and observe. The Brownsberg
is presumed to have been an ancient forest refuge, and holds rare species, some of which appear to
be Brownsberg endemics.
Permanent research infrastructure at the Brownsberg
The larger Brownsberg area offers various kinds of useful infrastructure, but on the Brownsberg plateau the only permanent tourist facilities. At the northeastern margin of the Brownsberg plateau, an about 7-8 km drive from the foot of the slope, is the Managers headquarters: several tourist lodges, buildings for staff and workers, an office, a workshop, and a small garage. Visiting researchers stay in the tourist lodges, as there are no special research lodges yet.Based on a recently finished zoning plan an entire creek catchments area - including part of the plateau - will be set aside for research purposes, and will become more or less off-limits to other visitors. As yet, there are no demarcated research sites within the Brownsberg park.
Because the Brownsberg plateau is a huge lateritic crust, and because of its elevation, some very peculiar and rare vegetation types occur in the park, such as low-elevation cloud forest. Along most of the Eastern rim of the plateau, clouds are constantly formed by air moving up the slopes.
These clouds penetrate the forest there, and have resulted in the trees and abundant lianas being laden with mosses and ferns. There is a diverse fauna and flora, including species which are otherwise known only from more remote areas further into the interior of Suriname, such as the White Bell-Bird.