Paracou, French Guiana Living Lab

Name of site: Paracou, French Guiana

Responsible person: Olivier Brunaux

Contact e-mail: olivier.brunaux@onf.fr

GPS coordinates:  latitude 5°18′N, longitude 52°53′W. 

Climate: Tropical

Ecoregion: Tropical rainforest

Approximate size (km²) of Living Lab: 40,000ha

Description of the area:

The centre of the Living Lab is located in the coastal part of French Guiana approximately 50 km NW of the European Space Center at Kourou. The lowland moist tropical forest of Paracou is typical of the Caesalpiniaceae forest types found in the Guiana shield. The site is part of a private domain of about 40,000ha, owned by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales , granted to Cirad. The site is mainly covered with lowland terra firme rain forests. The core area, which is approximately 500 ha within the domain, is covered with old growth forest with an exceptional richness (over 750 woody species).

Forest resilience challenges:  

In the context of global change, three major climatic drivers affect forest resilience in French Guiana: drought, water saturation and temperature. Drought decreases annual growth and mortality rates, high precipitation increases mortality rates and high temperature decreases growth.

What are the main ecosystem services provided by the forest?

In addition to the production of timber, the forest provides several other very valuable products, such as game, medicinal plants, forest seeds, tannins, resin, etc. The forest is extremely important for wildlife conservation measures.

Stakeholders:

Office National des Forêts, Comité du Tourisme de la Guyane (CTG), GEPOG (Groupe d'étude et de protection des oiseaux), National agency for hunting and wildlife (ONCFS).