Jan van Charante, born on December 05, 1950 in Paramaribo left for The Netherlands in 1965. He graduated at the University of Amsterdam as a Medical Doctor in 1977 and became a specialist in Occupational Health in 1990.

From 1989 he holds the position of CEO at the Occupational Health Foundation, providing Occupational and General Healthcare Services in Paramaribo. Van Charante contributed to a Master of

Public Health Course, Institute for Graduate Studies & Research (IGSR), University of Suriname and to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Course. He attended the XVIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Orlando and the XVIIIth in Seoul, Korea and represented Suriname as an Expert on several occasions during ILO Conferences in Geneva.

Apart from Healthcare he is involved in Tourism since the first Ministry of Tourism (1991) was established, and was since then trained by the CHA, CTO, OAS and the EU in several fields of Tourism. He held several positions in the Tourism Industry, Suriname Tourism Foundation (2005 – 2009), Chair of the SURIFESTA Foundation (1997 - 2013), Chair of the Suriname Jazz festival Foundation (2002 – 2021), Boardmember of the Stichting Uitgaanscentrum Paramaribo (SUP).

Experience after working in rural areas and in the interior of Suriname, in combination with his interests in Environmental and Public Health and merged with interests in Culture and Nature gives an explanation for his special attraction by Tourism & Health.

Carbon Credits, Eco- and Agrotourism just complete the picture.