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Good practice Imported

Building with Nature Suriname — Permeable Dams & Mangrove Restoration at Weg naar Zee

Suriname · Weg naar Zee · See the Suriname profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 76% 33/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Permeable wooden dams and mangrove replanting at Weg naar Zee, Suriname, rebuilt about 1km of eroding coast, with mangroves re-establishing within nine months — though erosion and dike breaches persisted along the wider coast into 2024-2025.

~9 months
Time to mangrove-supporting sediment accretion
~1 km
Coastline treated
Building with Nature Suriname — Permeable Dams & Mangrove Restoration at Weg naar Zee

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Conservation International Suriname; Wetlands International
Period
2015-2016 pilot; erosion monitoring through 2024-2025
Keywords
coastal protection, mangrove restoration, ecological engineering

Context

Suriname's low-lying, muddy coast near Paramaribo has historically eroded severely around Weg naar Zee, where mangrove forest had retreated and engineered sea defences were costly to maintain.

Activities

Between 2015 and 2016, Conservation International Suriname and Wetlands International, applying the 'Building with Nature' approach first piloted in Indonesia, constructed eight permeable dams of wooden poles and brushwood along roughly 1 km of coastline to slow currents and trap sediment.

Results

Sediment accretion sufficient to support new mangrove seedling establishment was observed within about nine months of dam construction.

Conclusions

The intervention covered only a fraction of Suriname's ~10 km of critically eroding coastline; a 2024 assessment found erosion, sea-dike breaches and salinisation continuing along Weg naar Zee more broadly into 2024-2025, so the pilot's localised success has not been scaled to reverse coastline-wide erosion.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Not disclosed; a small-scale pilot (8 dams over ~1km).
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Built 2015-2016; assessed again in 2024.
Staffing & skills
Conservation International Suriname, Wetlands International

Conditions for success

  • Permeable, low-cost structures (wooden poles/brushwood) rather than hard engineering
  • Adapting an approach already proven in Indonesia

Common failure modes

  • Covered only a fraction of the ~10km eroding coastline
  • Erosion and dike breaches continued along the wider coast into 2024-2025

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding

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Data sources

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