Suriname’s Saamaka tribe turns to mapping and documenting in effort to protect the Amazon rainforest

TUTUBUKA, Suriname (AP) — Deep in Suriname’s Amazon rainforest, Navaldo Vola hacked through thick vegetation with a machete, leading a group of Saamaka men up a forested mountain in sweltering heat and swarms of horseflies.Halfway up, they found a massive abandoned excavator fitted with an attachment designed to tear down trees.The discovery came a day after the men had found a makeshift camp at the foot of the mountain that they believed had been used by Chinese loggers. Packets of masala powder and bottles of soy sauce remained in the cooking area. They spent the night there, stringing their hammocks from the camp’s makeshift wooden structures before setting off up the mountain the following morning.Beyond the excavator, near the summit, they found another camp, with pieces of plastic tarp, aluminum mugs and other items left behind.“We knew that some people come here, but we didn’t know that they are doing logging,” Vola, 31, said, pointing into the distance at the summit of Ebbatop