Suriname have begun to open huge tracts of forests for logging by timber and trading companies. Conservationists around the world are horrified at the prospect.

From high atop a massive bald rock called the Voltzberg, visitors to Suriname can look in awe at the same sight that greeted explorer Sir Walter Raleigh 400 years ago: an emerald forest that seemingly stretches to infinity in all directions. Even though the world has 11 times as many…