New Presidential Decree On Protected Areas

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There is a new presidential decree authorizing the development of protected areas in Bahia De Las Aguilas, Parque Nacional Jaragua, and Parque Nacional Del Este.

I am not sure of all the details, as I they were talking about it this morning on tv (Hoy Mismo), but I started watching near the end of the segment. I have not been able to find any articles regarding this on any of the newspaper websites, and the decree has not been posted on the website for the office of the presidency yet. They showed a photocopy of the actual document on tv.

Does anyone have any more info on this?
 

Narcosis

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The decree is in the Friday edition of Diario Libre page 24 of the sports section.
 

Keith R

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Anybody have a scanner and can send the scan to me?

Oh well, guess I can wait for them to post it on the presidential site. Probably better to go through the weekend without reading it and getting upset....
 

samiam

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Forget the presidential site, they havent posted any 2006 decrees.

I read the decree, it basically states that areas of the parks of Bayahibe and Jaragua are liberated from the condition of National Park so they can be developed for tourism. The exploitation of these land will be overseen by a comission formed by the secretaries of Tourism, Environment, Public Works and Mr. Marino Ginebra.
So, there it finally is....up for grabs!!
 

Keith R

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samiam said:
Forget the presidential site, they havent posted any 2006 decrees.

I read the decree, it basically states that areas of the parks of Bayahibe and Jaragua are liberated from the condition of National Park so they can be developed for tourism. The exploitation of these land will be overseen by a comission formed by the secretaries of Tourism, Environment, Public Works and Mr. Marino Ginebra.
So, there it finally is....up for grabs!!
Oh great. What a surprise. :tired: A commission where the Environment Ministry is outvoted (maybe even 3:1 -- pardon my memory lapse, but who is Marino Ginebra?).

Yeah, I noticed that they are far behind on posting decrees. Anyone have a scanner?
 

Dolores1

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Number 686-05

Considering: That the Sectorial Law of Protected Areas No. 202/04 of 30 July 2004 removed from the restricted areas under National Park status a fringe of land located in the National Park of the East in Bayahibe and another in the National Park Jaragua in Pedernales, establishing new categories for conservation, surfaces, locations and limits.

Considering: That the purpose of the freeing of the abovementioned areas is to permit that the municipalities and provinces garner economic, job and commercial benefits from the exploitation of the tourism industry, through investments for the development of important hotel projects and complementary tourism projects.

Considering: That in a coordinated way, well defined plans directed to the development of sustainable tourism, coherent and in harmony with the surroundings, that integrate in an effective way the institutions and sectors related to direct and establish policies in line with studies and ground territorial plans carried out and to be carried out in both tourism poles.

Considering: That tourism needs to be a matter of sustainable development in those areas that for their natural conditions result in great value for the tourism exploitation and where the preservation of natural heritage can be conciliated with an activity that generates and stimulates the economy, such as the tourism industry.

Seen the Sectorial Law of Protected Areas No. 202-04 dated 30 July 2004.

Seen the General Law on Environment and Natural Resources No. 64-00 dated 18 August 2000.

Seen the Law that creates the Ministry of Tourism No. 541 of 31 December 1969, modified by Law 84 of 26 December 1979.

Exercising the attributes given to me by Art. 55 of the Constitution of the Republic, I dictate the following:

Decree

Article 1: The commission for the tourism development of the stretches liberated by the Sectorial Lawo f Protected Areas in Pedernales and Bayahibe will be presided by the Minister of Tourism and made up by:

1) Minister of Environment, 2) Minister of Public Works 3) director of the National Institute of Sewage; and Mr. Marino Ginebra.

Article 2: The commission created by this decree will be in charge of preparing, orienting and guaranteeing the implementing of a development plan for the areas freed for development under hte Sectorial Law of Protected Areas int he National Park of the East and the National Park Jaragua, where investment in tourism projects and ecotourism projects may render significant economic benefits that positively impact to improve the living conditions of the local communities.

Article 3: The Commission created by this decree will determine the mechanisms and the procedures to follow to implement the mandate given by the present decree.

Given in Santo Domingo on 30 December 2005.

President Leonel Fernandez
 
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Keith R

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Many thanks, D.

Any idea how to get ahold of a copy of Law 202-04, on which this decree relies so heavily? It still has not been posted to the Environment Ministry's site and so far they have ignored my emails asking for a copy. I also could not find it on other DR government sites I checked.
 
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Dolores1

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Adolfo Lopez, a well known ecology supporter, writes regarding the newly released decree….

1. The first consideration on which it is based is false. In no way does the Sectorial Law of Protected Areas remove from restrictions for tourism use the protected areas of Guaraguao-Punta Catuano and Bahia de las Aguilas. It merely limits itself to changing the category of management, that is Category of Protection VI, Protected Landscape.

The landscapes that are protected are:

In the case of the reclassified zone in the National Park of the East, a coastal zone with a semi tropical forest, where there are no hotels nor can these be built without destroying the landscape that they intend to protect.

In the case of the reclassified zone in the National Park jaragua, an area of tropical beach within a framework of desert vegetation, where there are no hotels and in no way can these be built without destroying the landscape that there is the intent to protect.

The uses that can be given with this category limit the allowing of visits, and carry out infrastructure for walkways or rest areas. Never permanent structures and much less cement or block structures.

2. The second consideration on which the decree is based is false because no where in the Sectorial Law of Protected Areas 202-04 is there a mention of removing areas from protection. As explained, Law 202-04 limits itself to change the category for the management of the national parks of the East and Jaragua.

3. The third consideration refers to a matter that has nothing to do with the Sectorial Law of Protected Areas nor with the National System of Protected Areas but with laws that refer to the tourism development of the country, which cannot be taken into consideration when drawing guidelines for protected areas. The protected areas, according to the General Law of Environment 64-00 are directly under the dependence of the Ministry of Environment.

4. The fourth consideration is especially deceitful, when pretending that the declaration of a protected area, is based on the promotion of tourism, something completely false, that in no way is admissible when referring to the protection of determined areas, based on the particular biodiversity that these areas have.

5. It is illegal and out of order to issue a decree that flagrantly violates the Environmental Law, that specifies very clearly that the only institution responsible for the management of protected areas in the Dominican Republic is the Ministry of Environment.

It is scandalous that they may seek to make responsible for the use and management of two protected areas, by decree, a group of persons in detriment to the legal and exclusive attributes of the Ministry of Environment.

This decree is too much like those issued by Hipolito Mejia to favor the interests of Globalia, S.A. that were later declared illegal and never executed.
 
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Dolores1

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Meanwhile, there are reports that equipment belonging to the Ministry of Public Works has already opened a trail-road through the Parque del Este.
 

Dolores1

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Marino Ginebra is the chief officer at Amhsa Marina. During his participation in a press conference during the Dominican Annual Travel Exchange 2005 (in the presence of foreign journalists) he spoke of his company's interest in participating in hotel development in the Bahia de las Aguilas area and that his company had already submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Tourism. Note that the present Minister of Tourism is the strongest supporter of developing Bahia de las Aguilas.
 
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This is a sham!

The only person on that panel that is against development in those areas is Max Puig, and my best guess is that Felix Jimenez finally convinced LF to bury his opinion on the subject by forming this panel, where he is outnumbered 3 to 1. This is absolutely ridiculous!

Is there any way that congress or anyone else can stand up to this? From the opinion of Adolfo Lopez that was posted by Dolores, it seems that this can possibly be challenged on constitutional grounds.
 
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Dolores said:
Marino Ginebra is the chief officer at Amhsa Marina... he spoke of his company's interest in participating in hotel development in the Bahia de las Aguilas area
The developers will be lining up by the dozens to get at that land. It is the most beautiful piece of real estate and beach on the entire island.
 

Keith R

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Dolores said:
Marino Ginebra is the chief officer at Amhsa Marina. During his participation in a press conference during the Dominican Annual Travel Exchange 2005 (in the presence of foreign journalists) he spoke of his company's interest in participating in hotel development in the Bahia de las Aguilas area and that his company had already submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Tourism. Note that the present Minister of Tourism is the strongest supporter of developing Bahia de las Aguilas.
So it's just as I suspected. Puig is the token on the otherwise rubber-stamp panel.

Sigh. :tired: So the quick buck wins over long-term interests yet again. These guys are beginning to make Balaguer (who created many of these protected areas) look like a visionary and themselves as... well, I better no go there. :angry:
 

samiam

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Corruption and lies are standard in any administration, these guys dont do less that the other guys. They just do it better.
To place Mr. Ginebra on that comission is to concede to the intentions of the developers since the group he represents will be the main developer. (errr...Department of Redundancy Department)
On top of that, the government has its PR department (Hoy Mismo channel9) praising the nbenefits of such endeavour as being the best thing that could have happened to the south since........maybe Maria Montez. The point is, a sector of the government, which includes current tourism minister, is going to benefit from this and just like the metro project, there aint nothing no one can do to stop it.
BTW, I heard that the Supreme Court has pronounced itself against the decree. Has anyone heard anything about this?
 
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samiam said:
the government has its PR department (Hoy Mismo channel9) praising the nbenefits of such endeavour as being the best thing that could have happened to the south since........maybe Maria Montez.
I almost chocked on my corn flakes this morning watching those guys, as they said that the administration had finally "liberated" those territories from the "ecological terrorists" for the development of the tourism industry and economical benefit of those areas. They then piled it on really thick for another couple of minutes.

Not that you or I should expect anything different from those clowns, given Cesar Medina's diplomatic appointment to Chile.
 
Sep 19, 2005
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not that I have a dog in this fight...but an outsiders coursory opinion is this:

the DR cant solve its financial problems from within...corruption or not

it needs investment from the outside.....mainly investments that generate jobs...but investment none the less.

the north coats is falling off as a tourist area. the problem with polution and the locals may be too much to overcome. Areas that dont have a ball and chain around their ankle( older cities with their problems) are the places the tourist want to go to be on the pristine beach with pristine water, and catered to.....as much as so many people here find the PEOPLE of the DR to be its life blood...I dont think the average tourist cares about that as much as, being in the warm sun on a great beach with no hassles!!!!!!!! The dr has to compete with other get away areas of the carribean.... they dont want tourist traps....just listen to someof the posts here about peoiple compalining about what happens to them in Boca Chica, POP sosua ect ect....

I dont hear so much of the problems in Bavaro......

yeah the enviroment is a one way street...mess it up and its probably done forever..........but soemthing has to give....as millions of people suffer through a politcal landscape that will never offer them hope!

One thing is for sure..one president will never solve anything....because it will take many presidencies to overcome DR's issues...

just the way i see it...wrong or wrong....take your choice ha ha ha


bob
 

Keith R

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Well, Bob, you may not yet hear the complaints about Bavaro/Punta Cana and it may look idealic, but there is some question how long that will last. Among other things, all the development in that area has put a huge strain on local water resources that no one is talking about much in public, but should be.

And I think you are overlooking the fact that the areas now being opened up are far more fragile environmentally than Bavaro was/is. Balaguer was not exactly anti-tourism, yet even he understood the rationale for protecting such fragile areas.

Last but not least, you talk about foreign investment as if it only brings positive impacts. The history of investment flows, over centuries and not only worldwide but also those involving the DR in particular, show this is simply not true. There are trade-offs, even if not immediately apparent. The trick is do what can be done to encourage the positive and discourage the negative. This is a balancing act that frankly the DR government has not shown itself very adept at, and laissez-faire, simple "hands off, rely on the market" approaches don't encourage such trade-offs either in a market like the DR's.

Going for the quick buck now -- short-term employment and infrastructure development -- with little serious thought to its environmental impact and long-term sustainability -- is simply going to waste away the DR's precious resources, bring more unemployment and fewer tourist dollars later, and little to show for it except some good balance sheets for a few Spanish hotel chains and some fat secret Swiss bank accounts for the Dominincan politicians who greased the way....
 
Sep 19, 2005
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Keith R said:
Last but not least, you talk about foreign investment as if it only brings positive impacts.

come on keith, it was only one statement!.... and it has no hidden meanings....I dont "talk about foreign investment" at all....I just mentioned it...nothing more....it is not something I know a lot about.

It is just the way I have seen things for three years....it appears the county cant generate enough money to make eveyone happy....

remember there will be no solution without someone comprimising some thing.

you can ask for the world and stand your ground and get nothing..or you can play the game and get what you can....

when a jet plane leaves JFK with 300 passengers... and an engine dies....and the plane has to turn around and come in crippled, back to the airport.....it will swing out over the ocean and dump all its fuel..........

not the best thing for the enviroment....but no one is calling an immediate press conference to stop the disharge!!!!!!!!

it is a nessecary evil at that moment in time

on a much smaller scale..isnt that whats happening down in the DR.....

sacrifices will have to be made in somewones corner, to be able to provide a good life for more people....

and again...it is not an experts opinion.....just one persons.... who loves a healthy enviroment...hey i am a hunter and an outdoorsman....I know the value and needs of nature.....hunters provide more money to protect the enviroment than any other group!

bob
 

Keith R

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I would hardly compare hotel development in limited and far more ecologically sensitive zones the same as an emergency fuel dump in a vast ocean by an single airline in trouble... frankly, a wierd analogy, Bob. :confused:

And as for
sacrifices will have to be made in somewones corner, to be able to provide a good life for more people....

You've missed the point entirely. This type of development may benefit a handful of people (local and foreign) big time and a small group of workers slightly for a decade or so, but once the damage is done and the area starts going downhill and tourists seeking pristine beaches and waters move on to somewhere else, what happens to all that "benefit"? It wasn't sustainable.

Who knows, maybe they'll simply move toward using up (depleting) the pristine beaches in Samana, the SW, Cabrera and Punta Rucia in the same manner, and then in 2 decades, where will the DR the be? A has-been tourist destination with a depleted environment nobody wants to spend time, nobody can make a buck off of, nobody gets employment from, and nobody wants to pay the time and energy and dollars it takes to remediate the damage? How will they make up for the loss of revenue and employment then? And how in the world will they be able to pay the bills for the damage done to reefs, aquifers, soils, etc.?

Why not instead promote investment in true, sustainable eco-tourism, that benefits the local community and preserves the environment because it is the cash-cow everyone wants to keep in good health? It's been done elsewhere and can be done here in the DR.

But that's not what these guys (most of them, anyway) are are aiming for. And I say that as someone who has known, traveled through, and lived in, the DR alot longer than 3 years. :tired:
 
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it is not a WIERD anology...it is a stark anology.... to show a point of view.......and again it is an untrained view....but one that is common.

something that poeple in your position will have to accomodate at some point. You cant educate everyone to your level on the enviroment....you will have to shoot for a standard, that you can live with.........even in america where the envirometalist have a HUGE voice... they NEVER get what they really WANT.... and they spend millions trying to

what do you think you can do with any plausible budget in the DR?

dont get upset with me, if my view doesnt follow your agenda..it isnt made to...it is just my view , nothing more really.

but it should be a signal as to what others see....I am not pro money in my pocket.. and I am not save the forrests of the DR 's resident voice!

I am in the middle somewhere....

while i can wish you the best of luck( which defacto , would be wishing us all good luck)....I am smart enough to not EXPECT it in the near future.

now back to the beaches and the forrest preserves, or how ever they are called......it is not CERTAIN they will be ruined with this new policy change.....you are JUST WORRIED about it??? correct?

but outside of that is the total picture that...anyone in the goverment...in your postion, or with your agenda...will have to play a savy hand of poker to get their way..... juggling the agenda of the corrupt... those that are not even corrupt, but still want to make millions, and those who think the immediate needs of the people, to have more weight than "enviromentally sensitive areas

At some point step back and see your view from a larger perspective........you may not change your view..MAY not......good luck

bob
 
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