Near Brownsberg, Suriname Photograph by Marco Bleeker   Northern South America: Northern Suriname, into eastern Guyana and French Guiana Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   3,000 square miles (7,700 square kilometers) -- about the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined Vulnerable

· Forests Dripping with Life
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Forests Dripping with Life

Nestled between the Atlantic coastal mangroves and the foothills of the coastal mountains of northern Suriname and Guyana, the Paramaribo Swamp Forests is a relatively small ecoregion. A long, thin strip of forest parallels the Atlantic coastline--a lowland habitat with a mixture of seasonally flooded forests and permanently flooded swamp forests. Here, giant spiders wait to ambush a meal, brilliant flowers bloom, brightly colored birds fly overhead, and snakes and lizards lie in wait for their prey.

Special Features

The Paramaribo Swamp Forests is almost impenetrable except by boat, and visitors should be prepared to get wet. This swamp forest is unique because it is isolated from other similar forest types, bound by grasslands and moist forests to the south and mangroves to the north. Because it is isolated, this ecoregion has a variety of endemic plant and animal species.

	The Goliath birdeater is the largest tarantula in the world, reaching a leg-span of 8-10 inches (20-25 cm). The spider rarely attacks birds, however, and more often opts for prey such as frogs, small snakes, insects, bats, and rats.

Wild Side

Few large mammals permanently inhabit these forests, though many will frequent it seasonally. Here, a hummingbird called a great-billed hermit uses its long bill to sip nectar from a brilliant yellow and red parrot’s beak heliconia. An elusive spectacled caiman pokes its nostrils and then its eyes up from beneath the tannin-stained water. A closer look at what seems to be a moving piece of bark reveals an agama plica plica, a small lizard that uses camouflage to blend in vertically with the tree trunk. Hidden behind a philodendron leaf is a large tarantula called a Goliath birdeater. Growing up the base of a walaba tree, a passion fruit vine displays its wonderfully complex and brilliant flowers. Periodically, there are flashes of flickering iridescent blues as morpho butterflies pass through patches of light. A very large, regionally endemic terrestrial bromeliad, Bromelia alta, hides a chunk-headed snake that awaits the passing of an unwary anolis lizard.

Cause for Concern

The inaccessibility of this area has so far helped maintain its health. But threats are becoming more serious, as oil-drilling operations enter the area and rice fields continue to expand into this swamp forest ecoregion. The hunting, poaching, and collecting of certain species here are also causes for concern.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.